Posted on 12/09/2005 10:08:54 PM PST by ncountylee
THE POLL NUMBER--80 percent of Iraqis want Americans out of their country--has become a staple of Democratic antiwar rhetoric. Representative John Murtha cited it in his proposed House resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Democratic national chairman Howard Dean mentioned it in the radio interview in which he said the war in Iraq is unwinnable. Senator Barbara Boxer put it this way on Fox News Sunday: "Eighty percent of Iraqis want us gone." Senator John Kerry made reference to the poll number in responding to a speech on Iraq by Vice President Cheney last month.
Democrats may be oblivious, but there are reasons to be skeptical of the 80 percent figure. Does it actually reflect support among Iraqis for immediate withdrawal? Probably not. Or have Democrats misconstrued its meaning to justify their demand for the removal of American forces from Iraq, in Murtha's words, "as soon as possible"? It sure looks that way.
There's no doubt about the authenticity of the opinion survey from which this particular finding emerged. That poll was conducted secretly by an Iraqi university for the British military in August. And the poll's results were disclosed in October by Sean Rayment, the defense correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph in London.
The problem with the 80 percent figure--actually, 82 percent were said to be "strongly opposed" to "coalition forces in Iraq"--is threefold. One, it clashes with the demographics of Iraq. Two, it's at odds with other polls in Iraq. And three, the question that elicited the 82 percent response is vague, which means the response is ambiguous.
The population of Iraq is made up of Sunnis (20 percent), Shia (60 percent), and Kurds (20 percent).
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
100 per cent of Americans were like our troops to come home. Most of us would like to see victory first however.
This 100% American would like to see somebody b!tch-slap Barbara Boxer.
If the war is lost, if IRAQ is under the control of the terrorists,if most Iraqis don`t have a phone, how do you take a poll?
So would I.. especially if we can include Kerry, Dean, Shumer, Clinton, Murtha, and Kennedy (to start with).
I'd be willing to do it! How much would it cost? Do I get some HAZMAT gear?
Mark Twain said it best- "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Poll the terrorists as they drive into the green zone. They are easy to find, figure where all the cameras are and hang out in front of one
They probably polled the Iraqis living at the Bagdhad Hilton! Just because 90% of the Stone Age Press campaigned for Kerry doesn't interfere with their objectivity.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
Let's not tolerate glaring lies.
The military war ended 4 years ago.
These gound skirmishes,even including the latest Iran-furnished high tech IEDs, is part of a protracted police operation.
The Iraqis want their country back and we are winning that effort.
Come to think of it, we really want OUR country back. The way the treasoness liberal socialist Democrats and the MSM are going, we'"ll win that one too.
Very carefully and very quietly.
Another lie from the left who love a good slaughter
So what? 80% of Americans would like the illegal immigrants to leave. They (IM) are not going anywhere any time soon either.
The 80% figure can best be described using an old Slobovian term: Kra Pola.
There were polls in the past breaking the choices, such as immidiate withdraw, withdraw in several several months and permanent. Those who called for an immidiate withdraw were a minority. This doesn't mean that the Iraqis are not calling for withdraw of the coalition force, but a withdraw at a period when security is restored and the ISF can handle the security on their own, reflecting the realism of the Iraqis. There is also different views between Shiite, Sunni and Kurds, with Sunni to have more wanting for an immidiate withdraw, and the Kurds wanting a longer stay of the coalition force.
In otherwords, simplification of choices into two, leave or stay, has more chance to be abused by liberals letting them conclude that "leave" to mean "leave soon", while Iraqis who selected "leave" may have meant "leave when security is restored and stay now". If that is the case, whatever research team did this is worth a grade of "F", failure for not going in depth. This is statistics 101, and those who did this research should have been aware of the resulted by "loaded coices".
Well .. it says the poll was done by an Iraqi University - so I suppose they could have taken a written poll ..??
But .. we are well versed in how the dems/libs conduct their polls. It's done by asking a specifically worded question to a specifically chosen group of people.
You can get any poll results you want.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.