Expert: Most Iraqis want U.S. to stay

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8403994/

Expert: Most Iraqis want U.S. to stay
Phares says the key to winning Iraqi hearts is winning leadership minds

While Americans were President Bush's primary target audience for his nationally televised address to the nation on Tuesday, Iraqis were also very interested in what he had to say.

Walid Phares, a terrorism expert for MSNBC and senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, joined MSNBC's Amy Robach on Wednesday to discuss how Bush's words may be playing in Baghdad, Basra and all around Iraq.

"Days ago I had met with the (Iraqi) prime minister at a meeting here in Washington and a number of senior officials, both religious and secular, and they told me the same story that we found this morning in the Iraqi/Baghdad press, which was that most Iraqis are concerned about an abrupt withdrawal from Iraq, because that would cause a collapse in their security system," Phares said.

Phares admitted that the country is "pretty much divided," but noted that no matter what Bush - or any other American president -- said, "the fundamentalists, the al-Qaida followers, the followers of Saddam Hussein ... they're going to be against them, they're going to be strongly against them."

<</SNIP>>

[meegbear]

1. Foundation for the Defense of Democracy

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) was founded two days after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Although FDD is nominally bipartisan, right-wing Republicans direct the policy institute, which focuses on “terrorism, the ideologies that drive terrorism, and the policies that can most effectively eradicate terrorism.” In its view, the “major ideological threat to democracies comes from Islamic extremism and rogue states,” which are the leading supporters of terrorism and totalitarianism.” In keeping with its neoconservative ideology, FDD advocates that the “United States should lead the war of ideas in the battle between freedom and totalitarianism.”

Republican Party insiders dominate FDD's board and staff. FDD's three board members are Steve Forbes, Jack Kemp, and Jeane Kirkpatrick. Its two “distinguished advisers” are Newt Gingrich and James Woolsey, while other advisers include Gary Bauer, Richard Perle, William Kristol, Walid Phares, Charles Krauthammer, and Frank Gaffney—all prominent neoconservative figures with multiple links to the Defense Policy Board, Center for Security Policy, American Enterprise Institute, Weekly Standard, and Project for the New American Century. Among FDD's advisers are also several prominent Democrats associated with the Democratic Leadership Council and the Progressive Policy Institute, including Donna Brazzile, a close associate of Sen. Joseph Lieberman; and Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA).

FDD is best known through the frequent media interviews and news analysis by FDD's Clifford May, who before joining FDD was director of communications (1997-2001) for the Republican National Committee. May's other institutional affiliations include being vice-chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition. A veteran journalist, May continues to contribute regularly to National Review.

The well-funded, well-connected FDD has quickly become one of the leading institutions in necon's web of think tanks and policy institutes. Like all neocon institutes, FDD embraces a militarist pro-Likud position with respect to Israel and Middle East political affairs. Although FDD's mission statement makes no mention of Israel, FDD's public statements and operations mostly concern Israel. FDD associates and staff are outspoken proponents of the hard-liners in Israel. These include such Jewish FDD members as May, Perle, and Kristol as well Christian associates. FDD adviser Charles Jacob, for example, has been a prominent spokesperson for the National Unity Coalition for Israel (NUCI), a group he told the New York Times gives “voice to evangelical Christians who are ardent Zionists.”

<snip>

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/org/fdd.php

[leftchick]

5. just another arm of the PNAC

neo-freaks all... :puke:

[saigon68]

31. more PNAC SCUM

Its amazing how the Capitalist controlled press uses Lap Dogs like this as EXPERTS on a subject

DISGUSTING

[LightningFlash]

36. This is treason plain and simple!!!

Claiming to be speaking for IRAQ, you freaks!????

:mad: :mad:

[NNN0LHI]

14. I wish people would check these "experts" out themselves before...

...posting crap like this on LBN.

Don

[htuttle]

BULLshit. Do some googling on his 'Foundation'

"Foundation for the Defense of Democracy"

http://www.defenddemocracy.org/biographies/biographies.htm

Board of Directors
Steve Forbes
Board Member
CEO Forbes Magazine

Dr. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick
Board Member
Fmr. Ambassador to the UN

Jack Kemp
Chairman
Fmr. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development


Distinguished Advisors
Newt Gingrich
Fmr. Speaker of the House

R. James Woolsey
Fmr. Director of the CIA

Board of Advisors

Gary Bauer
President
American Values

Charles Krauthammer
Syndicated Columnist

Donna Brazile
Campaign Manager
Gore 2000

Bill Kristol
Editor
Weekly Standard

Frank Gaffney
President
Center for Security Policy

Sen. Zell Miller
(D-GA)
U.S. Senate

Amb. Marc Ginsberg
Fmr. Ambassador
Morroco

Richard Perle
Former Chair of the Defense Policy Board and FDD Advisor

Rep. J.D. Hayworth
(R-AZ)
U.S. House of Representatives

(more names at link)

You'd be hard pressed to assemble a group of people who were more consistently WRONG than this one.

:eyes:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. What a rogues' gallery of people who've been consistently WRONG!

:wow:

[saigon68]

34. A Liars gallery of Filth and Perversion

Richard Perle Ugh what a toilet bowl of Diarrhea

[cosmicdot]

35. I see Donna Brazile is on its Board of Advisors

FDD was created two days after 911 ...
they set this org up rather quickly, didn't they

- how many tax exempt organizations and think tanks does it take to screw in a rightwing - PNAC agenda?

- how is it humanly possible for so few (the same names crop up everywhere) to be involved with so many organizations? - of course, several of them have their own 501(c)(3) to --cough-- pay them a salary -- that helps to free one up from having to do actual labor stuff ... i.e., frees one up to do the circuit ...

[LightningFlash]

37. Oh fuck....That EXPLAINS it all.....

The PNAC fascist DLC cabal in action.

:puke: :puke:

[Theres-a]

2. Expert,you say?

Check this outhttp://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Foundation_for_the_Defense_of_Democracies

[Kagemusha]

3. Saying the same story you plant in your own media

should not be considered a boost to your credibility.

And yes, I've heard these claims before and they may not even be false, but if "everyone loves a winner," the US is not winning, and saying it's winning will not make it so. To the Iraqis, winning is providing real security. Until the US "wins" on that score they'll at the least, be neutral towards the US.

[berni_mccoy]

4. How can the HEADLINE READ "Most Iraqis"

When the so called "EXPERT" says Iraq is "pretty much divided"?!?!?

Fucking Right-Wing Media!

:wtf:

[bemildred]

6. "Expert" == "Paid Policy Whore" nt

[Fridays Child]

7. This Whorowitz hack blamed Liberals for Nick Berg's beheading.

-snip-

Unfortunately, some among us may have fuelled the blood fiesta that was shown on the website. While Abu Ghraib has now become another way in which terrorists can legitimize killing innocent people, liberal and anti-American voices from this end of the world re-perpetrate this horrid logic, excessively assessing the so-called impact of the Iraqi soldiers abuse by their guards and declaring that the "reactions will be violent and bloody." In other words, they morally legitimized these bloody acts by seeing them as mere responses, not actions that are in line with a culture of death and hatred. So when the slaughter of Berg took place and was posted online, these same voices rushed to establish a moral equality between Abu Ghraib and the savage beheading of an innocent young man. But no such equality exists.

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13359

[Zhade]

27. Man, what a steaming pile. Listen up, Phares:

We didn't LEGITIMIZE shit, you fucking idiot. We CORRECTLY PREDICTED that there would be violent repercussions.

When you torture people, as we have, others who risk the same treatment for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time will react to stop you from doing it to them. Some will even go way too far and hack someone's head off (though the Berg video still seems questionable to me, personally).

Understanding this very real fact is not endorsing or legitimizing the acts. Of course, this lying dick knows that. He just found something to pin on a group he doesn't like.

Ironically, I would never say this guy endorsed torture just because he likes b*s* without knowing if he in fact endorses torture. But that's just me, a sane tolerant reasonable guy who likes allegations to be backed up with some evidence. Call me kooky that way.

[Roland99]

8. A yes-man "Expert" talking to puppets...hmm...quite unbiased info there.

:eyes:

[bookman]

9. Let them vote

The Iraq people are entitled to an up or down vote.

"Should the Iraq government demand that the US forces leave Iraq?"

-- Yes or No?

[converted_democrat]

10. Really????

Just curious how do they poll the people that are cut of without phone service? Which is just about everyone outside of the green zone.

[silver10]

11. very good point,

but will most Americans put two and two together? Just keep repeating something, and they immediately believe it.

[Tempest]

12. Polls actually tell a different story

The latest polls taken, back in February 2005, had Iraqis OVERWHELMINGLY wanted the U.S. to pull out immediately.

[slackmaster]

29. I'd like to see those results

Link, please.

[Tempest]

33. Not finding February's poll, here's earlier one

www.detnews.com/2004/nation/0404/29/a05-137477.htm


I doubt the numbers have changed much.

[MGKrebs]

13. I wouldn't be surprised if the Iraqi's wanted SOMEBODY to stay.

I would be surprised if they wanted US to stay.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

15. most Iraqis WANT TO BUY FLOWERS for the occupiers(to place on their graves

the damn great job they've done as
"Liberators" has really paid off hasn't it!

[ckramer]

16. Iraqis need to realize that Iraqi problems have to be solved by

Iraqis, foreign army will not save them. Americans will not sovlve the problems for them.

Iraq used to be country under Saddam, not anymore.

No matter what Saddam had done, he united the country. Give him some credits.

If one day someone emerged to be a new Iraqi leader, be prepared that he might be another Saddam.

Bush wasted all the resources and lives to trying to change it to no avil.

Iraqis needs to think about that. Either giving up to the insurgents rule or giving up to Americans rule. There has to be a strong man. democracy is not fit for everyone.

I hope there's another way.

[LynnTheDem]

17. ROTFL!!!

BULLSHIT from a rightwingnut LIAR.

Try reading actual Iraqi polls, morans. Or even try listening to the US military's generals.

Rightwingnuts; stupidest MFers, biggest liars, on the planet.

[Zhade]

28. If anything, this guy's new lie will anger Iraqis more.

I would not be surprised to find the numbers demanding we leave NOW climb even higher than the already significant majority who wishes the invaders out, yesterday.

[Barkley]

18. U.S. tax payers are not responsible for Iraq's economic development

Its not our country and its not our responsibility.

We are their for the oil and nothing else.

When Bush says we're in Iraq to bring democracy; he lies.

When Bush says we're in Iraq because of 9-11; he lies.

This leader is a pathetic lier that needs to be impeached ASAP.

[Disturbed]

19. This is how the RW Media works.

RW Media trots out "experts" and pundits that support the Bush Regime agenda. The game, like at the gambeling places, is fixed.

Both major parties support the agenda that the U.S. will stay in Iraq indefenitely. It does not matter on what basis the Bush Regime invaded Iraq. The deed is done.

[Xithras]

20. Not quite bullshit. A lot of Iraqi's do want us to stay.

The most ironic part is that it's generally the liberal and progressive Iraqi's who want the US to stay. They fear that Iraq will fall to fundamentalist Islam if the US pulls out, and they will once again be oppressed or executed. It's probably a fair fear since many of the insurgent-dominated areas have already implemented some form of Islamic law (there have been many posts here about it).

I work with a number of Iraqi's who are in regular contact with relatives in Baghdad (contrary to the post above, many people in the major cities DO have phone service, and cellphones are common), and their opinion is pretty much all the same...if we pull out, Iraq will descend into a civil war which will kill tens of thousands and create up to a million refugees. Their opinion is that if we pull out, that pullout should be accompanied by the elimination of immigration restrictions to allow as many Iraqi's as possible to flee the country to the US.

[Barrett808]

21. Southern Iraq has already fallen to Islamic fundamentalism

So that battle is lost. Once the UK pulls out troops to shore up the failing Afghanistan campaign, the victory for fundamentalism will be complete.

I'm skeptical of the civil war scenarios -- fwiw, my feeling is that things will get much more calm when the US pulls out.

A reasonable alternative is blue-helmeting the whole operation, but getting the UN to clean up little Georgie's mess would be a diplomatic coup that Condi doesn't have the capability to pull off.

[Xithras]

30. Sadly, the possibility of a civil war is increasing.

Iran's new president is a fundamentalist Shiite who just today gave a big speech about recreating and spreading the Islamic Revolution to the rest of the world. The American press is dancing around the issue, but he may as well have told the Iraqi Shiites "Iran will back you if it comes to war". Remember, to fundamentalist Shiites, Sunni's aren't even real Muslims (to be fair, the same statement works in reverse).

Since it's highly unlikely that the Sunni's will allow the Shiite's "false Islam" to dominate their country, the outlook for a peaceful resolution is grim.

At the worst, you'll have a civil war. At the minimum we'll see a replay of Pakistan, where the two religions routinely blow up each others mosques and gun down praying crowds.

[0rganism]

22. between Iraq and a hard place

I tend to agree with the Iraqis about immigration restrictions; even if not to the USA, then there damn well ought to be someplace where the secular-minded Iraqis can go to get away from the coming civil war. It'd probably be easier to start these folks over again from scratch in the Falkland Islands or American Samoa than rebuild their infrastructure for the nth time in the wake of (yet another) ethnic cleansing.

[Swamp Rat]

41. How 'bout Crawford, TX?

After all, Georgie broke all their homes, so he needs to share his now.

[0rganism]

44. Poetic justice factors aside, that would be dangerous for the Iraqis

There might be some parts of America that I'd consider open enough to receive an influx of Iraqi immigrants, but rural Texas ain't one of 'em.

[LiberalAndProud]

24. Iraqi front demands US withdrawal

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/72AD9B13-2788-4FB8-8C0B-64BAE3C25749.htm
A former cabinet minister has formed a political front to represent the demands of an umbrella group of fighters in Iraq demanding a timetable for US troop withdrawal.

Former electricity minister Ayham al-Samarrai announced the creation of the National Council for Unity and Construction of Iraq in a news conference held at a family home in central Baghdad on Wednesday.

The council includes key Iraqi political and tribal figures in the region and calls for an end to all US military offensives on Iraqi cities.

Al-Samarrai has called for the recognition of the right of Iraqis to resist the occupation forces.

He also called on the Iraqi government to recognise "the resistance" and hold talks with it.

[0007]

25. News from the Twilight zone.............

Zell Miller and his spitballs are at it again.

[yurbud]

26. PUT IT TO THE TEST: Let Iraqis vote on troops (and oil)

I started a discussion on this in another thread.

If what this guy says is true, we would have nothing to fear with letting Iraqi legislators or even the population voting on whether our troops stay, or who gets to pump their oil

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3977734&mesg_id=3977734

Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:


____________________________________________________________________

[despairing optimist]

32. Headline from 1854: "Expert: Most Slaves Like Their Masters"

And after a while, hostages begin to empathize with their captors. If anyone actually believes this, no wonder the country is going down the tubes.

[Miss Chybil]

38. IRAQIS WANT JOBS!

It's always a "terrorism expert." Where are the economists and socialogists? Get the contractors out of Iraq, let Iraqis do the work - war's over.

[LightningFlash]

39. Guess that wasn't on DLC's agenda....

What a great PNAC married DLC happy couple. A bunch of corporate, fascist, greedy morons who don't even know the meaning of the PHRASE common man.

:mad: :mad: :banghead: :argh:

[stickdog]

40. Iraqis: Most "experts" don't know shit! (nt)

[Media_Lies_Daily]

42. Expert: Most NeoCon-supporting experts are full of crap.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

43. PNAC=FDD

why don't people see this?

[LightningFlash]

45. Everybody sees this now... n/t