[FreeReign]

From my understanding very few. Even our own troops complained they were not supported by the majority of the people.

The casualty rate in the battle of Fallujah was higher for the Iraqi brigade than it was for our troops. One thousand out of two thousand Iraqi's joined us in the fight. Not one of the one thousand turned back.

From my understanding, the casualty rate for the Iraqi police force has also been high. In fact all I've heard about over the last few months are numerous killings of the Iraqi police.

Add to that, election workers were photographed as they were executed. Yet, the Iraqi's turned out to vote at a higher rate than we do in this country.

SOTU | Excerpt: We will succeed because the Iraqi people value their own liberty - as they showed the world last Sunday. Across Iraq, often at great risk, millions of citizens went to the polls and elected 275 men and women to represent them in a new Transitional National Assembly. A young woman in Baghdad told of waking to the sound of mortar fire on election day, and wondering if it might be too dangerous to vote.

Millions risked their lives, dipped their fingers in bright purple paint and voted. Your "understanding" of what is going on in Iraq emanates from the MSM and is wrong.

[Joe Hadenuf]

The casualty rate in the battle of Fallujah was higher for the Iraqi brigade than it was for our troops.

Read way back. I was referring to the Iraqi people as a whole, all but standing on the side lines while we fought their fight. Again, this is pretty well established.

[Timeout]

This was posted on The Corner at NRO. It's directly responsive to your discussion:

A friend who was watching the SOTU with an Iraqi friend writes during e-mail correspondence to me tonight:

He's been ecstatic for days now. it's hard to explain what life is like for iraqis right now. i think it's full of overwhelmingly emotional moments like that one [the hug]. he told me of some of his aunt who lives in a very bad (read: terrorist-infested) area of Baghdad. she is a widow (and a Sunni)- her husband was killed by Saddam. All night the imam at the mosque was broadcasting not to vote, how it is against islam to vote. in the morning she got up and went to her neighbor's house and told her friend she was going to vote. These two women left together. When they came back with their blue fingers they could see their neighbors peeking out from behind curtains. Soon after, people started streaming out of their houses and soon everyone from their neighborhood went off to vote.

he told me also how iraqis who before had been terrified of being identified as pro-American and therefore hadn't so much as looked up when passing soldiers on the street were suddenly handing out candies to them. they now get why we're there. i don't think they believed it before. so yes- the hug was amazing- and an important symbol of what is happening.

[windchime]

Blog from Iraq:

"What we have witnessed is something amazing.""thank you Mr. President" (the Mesopotamian)