Quote:
Originally posted by scooby doo as scooby does
What would you say to a western reporter when polled with thousands of armed US troops hunting out anti-americanism ? Apparently the poll was conducted with gunfire and explosions going on around, fuck, I'd be running to the nearest microphone to express my undying love for the weapon-wielders. Not to mention when the pollsters got to certain hardcore anti-western areas, they left when recognised gun shots were sounded to signal the arrival of 'Westerner' targets. Don't forget the 50,000 bounty on every Westerners head.
Run that poll in Tikrit, Fallujah or any one of a load more cities and you will get completely different results.
That poll is not a true reflection of how Iraqi's feel. Bloody sure of that.
It's an interesting poll, gathered under extremely harsh conditions with a very small sample in just one city, albeit by far the largest. But that's all it is, hardly 'Iraqi thinking'.
I think the tragic and very sad American body count says far more.
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And how would you answer a poll in a country that was brutally ruled by a party that is out of power but not completely deposed of yet? Only 5% chose Saddam and fuck, probably half of those were people still harboring fear from decades of Ba'ath party rule.
Major cities like Mosul and Basrah were decidedly anti-Saddam before the war. Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq is heavily Kurdish and 5% would take a rigged poll box there for sure.
No doubt results would not be as anti-Saddam in Tikrit but saying that Baghdad results are on the high side (or low depending on your point of view) because Baghdad is more western ignores the fact that the people North and South of the now defunct no-fly
zones would have been strongly anti-Saddam. Those areas include some of the largest population centers in Iraq.
I think Baghdad is representative. There are more factors involved than just degree of westernization. Western does not even necessarily mean more interested in democratic ideals. There are many Eastern democracies and even a few Muslim ones too.
It matters not. Barring civil war, Iraq will likely go as Baghdad goes. 33% of the population of Iraq is in Baghdad. Tikrit is a town 60 x smaller than Baghdad.
Iraqis want to be just as free from being tortured for saying the wrong thing as you do.