A link for those who are tired of just the negative being reported from Iraq

[schweitz]

www.lonestartimes.com

[Secretariat]

www.lonestartimes.com

I agree report those stas, but don't forget some of the other data from that Zogby poll.

"Zogby Poll of Iraqis - A fascinating Zogby poll of Iraqis was released yesterday.
Some key results:

Only 9% of Sunnis says they will definitely vote, 76% say they will definitely not vote. Majorities of both Sunni Arabs (82%) and Shiites (69%) favor U.S. forces withdrawing either immediately or after an elected government is in place. 53% of Sunnis believe that ongoing attacks in Iraq are a legitimate form of resistance. has a reasonably good record in the US, but it must take some radical rethinking of this methodology to get accurate results in today's Iraq. "

In other words the two largest groups in the country are 82% and 69% in favor of us leaving immediately. btw...I am not in favor of leaviing immediately.

Looking at some of the reports it appearts only about 41 people were killed across Iraq today which is much better than I expected and is good news. I read that in the Sunni areas though that turnout was extremely low 1200 out of 200,000 in Samarra. The problem with a lot of the insurgency seems to be in the Sunni region so most likely the violence within these areas will continue unfortunately.

[Tom]

Yeah. The sunni's want us out so they can go back to good old days of murder, torture, fear. Sec, you make that sound like some sort of grand revelation. I got news for you, the Nazi's wanted us out of Germany in 1946.
Sucs to be them.
From all signs, the elections today went very well indeed with a large turnout. The only two networks reporting your brand of gloom and doom were ABC with that Canadian Cry-baby anchor, and All-jibeerish. I can never keep those two seperate anyways.
Maybe you dems could take some lessons from Iraq-they got a better turnout than you dems did with your free rock concerts and LJB handing out smokes and booze!

[CryingForTheHorses]

Just wondering this SEC. Why wouldnt you want them out of Iraq yet? I myself feel the end of this war is very near. Am I missing something, Isnt this what the war was about?..Elections and a free democracy? I understand that they need to be able to protect themselves.Can they not train for this via UN help? Will the UN now give the extra help that is needed? Do you think the insurgents would lay down their arms now that the USA would have ceased hostilities with the Iraq? Could this senero happen? What are your thoughts

[Show Me the Wire]

Secretariat:

That is good news the majority wants the U.S. out of their country. It means they are willing to take responsibility for their country. I also agree with their thinking. If I was an Iraqi, and my country was being occupied by another country I would want the occupying power to leave.

I say it is a good sign. I think the majority of U.S. citizens want to turn over the defense of the Iraqi nation to the Iraqi's as quick as viable to do so.

Viability must be determined by the elected Iraqi government.

So you see I view the Iraqi desires to govern themselves as a good thing and not something that is a negative.

But that is not what you were getting at where you? You probably interpreted the Iraqi poll as the Iraqi's did not want the U.S. in Iraq in the first place. Tsk, tsk, that was not the questioned asked, though it would be interesting to see the Iraqi response to such a question.

[Tom]

If I were an Iraqi, I would want the US to stay until the TERRORISTS were ousted. We are playing a vitla role in securing the Iraqi's during this transition.
The next year will be pivotal - we need to make sure the job is done befreo we leave.
An aside to Sec....just suppose we DID find WMD in the first month of the invasion. What whould you have had us do then?
No matter WMD or not, didn't it occurr to you that we would be obligated to take care of security and other things for years to come, until they could be assumed by a legal Iraqi goevernment?
From where I stand, our exit strategy is paying off and is going on schedule,
despite no help from the UN, most of the world, or the DNC.

[Secretariat]

If I were an Iraqi, I would want the US to stay until the TERRORISTS were ousted. We are playing a vitla role in securing the Iraqi's during this transition.
The next year will be pivotal - we need to make sure the job is done befreo we leave.
An aside to Sec....just suppose we DID find WMD in the first month of the invasion. What whould you have had us do then?
No matter WMD or not, didn't it occurr to you that we would be obligated to take care of security and other things for years to come, until they could be assumed by a legal Iraqi goevernment?
From where I stand, our exit strategy is paying off and is going on schedule,
despite no help from the UN, most of the world, or the DNC.

Actualy Tom, we agree on a point. I also beleive the US has to stay to secure Iraq, but we need to bring in other Arab nations into the transition such as Jordan and Egypt, and begin to palay a lesser role.

I am not doom and gloom about the election, and if you read my post I am simply commenting that the LoneStar poll shows only "postive" aspects of the Zogby poll. The thing about the poll is it shows of course 80% + of sunnis who want us out immeidately. The surprising thing was 69% of Shites want us out. THe Kurds do not. THe largest turnouts today appeared to be in Kurd areas, and some of the Shiite areas.

I think a very low percentage of Sunnis voted today and they are gonna be the problem. This group elected today will now select a President. i beleive the battle is going to be "protecting" these elected officals who are now going to be targeted. I also think the joining of Kurd, Sunni, and Shiite is going to be difficult in the government. Look how divided Dem and Repubs are here. imagine if religion enters into the picture as over there.

As the commentators said on Chris mathews this moring, they all beleive we will be in Iraq in 2008.

I am hopeful that a President who can unify the country is elected. It is a great day for iraqis voting. However, it is now with armed guards, curfews, safety zones from car bombs. i think it's going to be awhile.

It would be great eventually to hand over the reigns though so we could return to getting Bin Laden and Omar and truly avenge 911.

[Tom]

The best revenge for 9-11 is to spread liberty amoung the islamic nations. Destroy thier covenant of terror in thier own backyards and put free people on thier streets. The islamic menace cannot survive liberty and freedom. And Liberty and freedom cannot be stopped. Theses elections must have OBL climbing the walls of his cave today. The ultimate insult to him: people deciding for themselves.
I am sure it only a mater of time until we capture Zarkowi (sp?). In case you were not aware, he is an Al Qeda operative, perhaps OBL's eventual succssor, and he operates out of Iraq. And has, for quite some time now.