The news from Iraq worsens

Lake Champlain Weekly ^ | 15 August 2007 | Quentin Langley

[qlangley]

As the news from Iraq worsens, panic starts to set in.

A major paper conducts a poll which shows a dramatic shift of opinion. The shift is so big that the paper doesn’t publish the results and commissions a new poll instead. When the new poll confirms the results they publish, but bury the story on an inside page and describe the shift as “modest”.

Meanwhile a leading politician publicly worries about what General Petraeus may say in his report in September. If the report is as bad as he fears “it could be a real big problem”.

What is this bad news that a major newspaper fears so much that it buries it? What is the bad news that a House leader fears could be such a problem? It seems the surge is working. It is early to draw any conclusions. Violence in Iraq varies by season for reasons of both religion and climate. But we can firmly say this: those who declared the surge a failure before the additional troops even arrived were more than a little premature.

The poll was commissioned by the New York Times. It seems retrospective support for the March 2003 intervention in Iraq rose from 35% to 42% - that’s a rise of one fifth. Opposition to the policy remains very high: falling from 61% to 51% - a fall of one sixth. Plainly it still means the war is unpopular, but the movements are more than just modest. If, for example, one in six current readers of the New York Times abandoned the paper over a period of eight weeks, the editor might regard the bad news as more than just modest . . .

[Son House]

Dis-agree, their Government getting along will be twisted by Democrat Majority Press to never happen. I want their Police and Military to stand up, and their being trained by the best, no worries here.

Go here, find out what is really happening on the ground,

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=1&id=4&Itemid=21

I don’t buy the Democrat Majority Press critiques of Government.

[Wills Powers]

What are you guys talking about? If progress is being made like you claim, then we should be able to leave! Look—its been 6 years-—how long does it take these idiots to get their act together? Havent we dumped enough money there? Time to put pressure on the Iraqis to do their job-—we can’t babysit them forever!

[qlangley]

>>What are you guys talking about? If progress is being made like you claim, then we should be able to leave!

I asked how long you thought it was going to take. This was never meant to be a short-term in and out exercise. It was meant to be about transforming Iraq as a beacon for the whole Middle East.

>>Look—its been 6 years

Ever study maths?

>>how long does it take these idiots to get their act together?

What ‘act’ is it you are expecting them to ‘get together’. They are building democracy. That parties disagree with each other is a good thing: a sign of maturity. America’s first President was elected unopposed, but its second was defeated in his re-election bid by his own VPOTUS.

I am glad you have dropped the whole ‘but they went on vacation’ meme. That was just embarrassing.