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	<title>Comments on: Fox News: &#8220;4 Years Later: Iraqis &#8216;Thanking&#8217; America&#8221;</title>
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		<title>By: Nexus</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2981182</link>
		<dc:creator>Nexus</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2007 11:06:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2981182</guid>
		<description>TC, just words you say. look it up on the internet, it&#039;s true. Bush Prescot funded Hitler, he even got covicted for that!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>TC, just words you say. look it up on the internet, it&#8217;s true. Bush Prescot funded Hitler, he even got covicted for that!<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2981182', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: TC</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2405510</link>
		<dc:creator>TC</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2007 20:21:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2405510</guid>
		<description>As usual, most of the people who posts here are out of their mind.  &quot;Nexus&quot; are you kidding me?  Prescott Bush founded Hitler?

I hope you don&#039;t operate any heavy machinery.

Most of you people need to either grow up or move.  

Otherwise wait for the next election to do something about it.

BTW - if the Fox News is so bad, why did they cover the Gathering of Eagles &amp; Cindy Sheehans&#039;s anti-war crowd last Saturday when noother outlet covered both?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As usual, most of the people who posts here are out of their mind.  &#8220;Nexus&#8221; are you kidding me?  Prescott Bush founded Hitler?</p>
<p>I hope you don&#8217;t operate any heavy machinery.</p>
<p>Most of you people need to either grow up or move.  </p>
<p>Otherwise wait for the next election to do something about it.</p>
<p>BTW &#8211; if the Fox News is so bad, why did they cover the Gathering of Eagles &amp; Cindy Sheehans&#8217;s anti-war crowd last Saturday when noother outlet covered both?<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2405510', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Nexus</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2393832</link>
		<dc:creator>Nexus</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:32:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2393832</guid>
		<description>Howsad,

Stop the killing by killing themselfes, 1.000.000 people died from the start of the invasion.
What about Prescot bush who founded Adolf Hitler in his war.
What about George Bush senior who was the bos of the CIA when Kennedy got killed. See video, the bodyguards are called off, who called them off?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DA0FxvJQn4

And now Bush junior, what did he do for the world with his insane war on terror, selfcreated and with one hand on the bible?

See the connections? I do. It&#039;s a evil family with even more evil plans!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Howsad,</p>
<p>Stop the killing by killing themselfes, 1.000.000 people died from the start of the invasion.<br />
What about Prescot bush who founded Adolf Hitler in his war.<br />
What about George Bush senior who was the bos of the CIA when Kennedy got killed. See video, the bodyguards are called off, who called them off?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DA0FxvJQn4" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DA0FxvJQn4</a></p>
<p>And now Bush junior, what did he do for the world with his insane war on terror, selfcreated and with one hand on the bible?</p>
<p>See the connections? I do. It&#8217;s a evil family with even more evil plans!<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2393832', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Nexus</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2393451</link>
		<dc:creator>Nexus</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:25:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2393451</guid>
		<description>There is no just right for killing people, there never was and there will never be one. In God we trust! God stated that live itself is God and anyone who takes lives is acting against God. Is Bush greater than God?

Mahatma stated,

There is no path to peace, peace is the path!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There is no just right for killing people, there never was and there will never be one. In God we trust! God stated that live itself is God and anyone who takes lives is acting against God. Is Bush greater than God?</p>
<p>Mahatma stated,</p>
<p>There is no path to peace, peace is the path!<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2393451', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Nexus</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2393162</link>
		<dc:creator>Nexus</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:20:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2393162</guid>
		<description>Jamie, is this the freedom you&#039;re speaking of?

http://www.niburu.nl/showarticle.php?articleID=15954

You&#039;re brainwashed, how can you say such things, start thinking and see what is unfolding under your very eyes! The 2 th world war started the same way, the same thinking and the same actions, then the judes were the victim, now the muslims are. Insane world with even insaner leaders and the World is still sleeping.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Jamie, is this the freedom you&#8217;re speaking of?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.niburu.nl/showarticle.php?articleID=15954" rel="nofollow">http://www.niburu.nl/showarticle.php?articleID=15954</a></p>
<p>You&#8217;re brainwashed, how can you say such things, start thinking and see what is unfolding under your very eyes! The 2 th world war started the same way, the same thinking and the same actions, then the judes were the victim, now the muslims are. Insane world with even insaner leaders and the World is still sleeping.<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2393162', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Nexus</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2392831</link>
		<dc:creator>Nexus</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:13:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2392831</guid>
		<description>http://www.niburu.nl/showarticle.php?articleID=15962

Watch this video! Can anyone explain both video&#039;s, the one shown in the window and the other one from BBC who knew 20 minutes earlier that building 7 would collapse?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.niburu.nl/showarticle.php?articleID=15962" rel="nofollow">http://www.niburu.nl/showarticle.php?articleID=15962</a></p>
<p>Watch this video! Can anyone explain both video&#8217;s, the one shown in the window and the other one from BBC who knew 20 minutes earlier that building 7 would collapse?<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2392831', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: tom baker</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2361333</link>
		<dc:creator>tom baker</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:03:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2361333</guid>
		<description>Where did all the new wingnuts come from??? All this jibber-jabber must be costing the RNC dozens, if not hundreds, of dollars, given the high quality of their talking-point spewing.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Where did all the new wingnuts come from??? All this jibber-jabber must be costing the RNC dozens, if not hundreds, of dollars, given the high quality of their talking-point spewing.<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2361333', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Parrotlover77</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2361193</link>
		<dc:creator>Parrotlover77</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:47:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2361193</guid>
		<description>How are they doing these polls?  How many Iraqis have working phones?  How many are too scared to participate?  I wonder if the 18% is actually too HIGH of a figure.  If I was an Iraqi, I would be laying very low.

When we pull out, there will be much more bloodshed over there until the civil war is over...

What circle of hell is reserved for those who start / contribute to genocide?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>How are they doing these polls?  How many Iraqis have working phones?  How many are too scared to participate?  I wonder if the 18% is actually too HIGH of a figure.  If I was an Iraqi, I would be laying very low.</p>
<p>When we pull out, there will be much more bloodshed over there until the civil war is over&#8230;</p>
<p>What circle of hell is reserved for those who start / contribute to genocide?<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2361193', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Jamie Kinstle Wapakoneta OH</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2361090</link>
		<dc:creator>Jamie Kinstle Wapakoneta OH</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:21:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2361090</guid>
		<description>The middle east and Europe better get on their knees and thank George Bush for protecting them and giving them freedom!  Iraqis love Bush over Saddam -they don&#039;t want a leader who sponsers terrorism.

Bush has saved the world from the Evil Axis - North Korea and Libbya were so scared they gave up their nukes.  Iraq had to learn the hard way.  Iran might too - doesn&#039;t matter - they&#039;re all the same -we&#039;ll turn their country into a parkin lot.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The middle east and Europe better get on their knees and thank George Bush for protecting them and giving them freedom!  Iraqis love Bush over Saddam -they don&#8217;t want a leader who sponsers terrorism.</p>
<p>Bush has saved the world from the Evil Axis &#8211; North Korea and Libbya were so scared they gave up their nukes.  Iraq had to learn the hard way.  Iran might too &#8211; doesn&#8217;t matter &#8211; they&#8217;re all the same -we&#8217;ll turn their country into a parkin lot.<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2361090', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Patrick1</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2360902</link>
		<dc:creator>Patrick1</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:45:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2360902</guid>
		<description>Another Iraqi who thinks things were better under Saddam.

Saddamâ€™s former deputy hanged before dawn
 
 MSNBC ^ &#124; March 20, 2007 
Saddam Husseinâ€™s former deputy was hanged before dawn Tuesday, the fourth man to be executed in the killings of 148 Shiites following a 1982 assassination attempt against the former leader in the town of Dujail. Taha Yassin Ramadan, who was Saddamâ€™s vice president when the regime was ousted, went to the gallows on the fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Bassam al-Hassani, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said the execution went smoothly, although Ramadan appeared frightened and recited the two shahadahs â€” a declaration of faith repeated by Muslims â€” â€œThere is no God...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Another Iraqi who thinks things were better under Saddam.</p>
<p>Saddamâ€™s former deputy hanged before dawn</p>
<p> MSNBC ^ | March 20, 2007<br />
Saddam Husseinâ€™s former deputy was hanged before dawn Tuesday, the fourth man to be executed in the killings of 148 Shiites following a 1982 assassination attempt against the former leader in the town of Dujail. Taha Yassin Ramadan, who was Saddamâ€™s vice president when the regime was ousted, went to the gallows on the fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Bassam al-Hassani, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said the execution went smoothly, although Ramadan appeared frightened and recited the two shahadahs â€” a declaration of faith repeated by Muslims â€” â€œThere is no God&#8230;<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2360902', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: tom baker</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2360578</link>
		<dc:creator>tom baker</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:47:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2360578</guid>
		<description>IED spells flower in their language.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>IED spells flower in their language.<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2360578', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Patrick1</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2360297</link>
		<dc:creator>Patrick1</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:53:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2360297</guid>
		<description>Kofi was on Saddam&#039;s payroll.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Kofi was on Saddam&#8217;s payroll.<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2360297', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Patrick1</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2360103</link>
		<dc:creator>Patrick1</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:36:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2360103</guid>
		<description>On the other hand regime change in Europe is not going as well.

44% THINK THINGS ARE WORSE after U.S. invasion and regime change: &quot;I am talking about Europe. A Financial Times-Harris poll found great discontent with the European Union, which was an outgrowth of the Common Market, which was set up at the behest of the American government as a means of getting the nations of Old Europe to get along and quit having wars every generation or so.&quot;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On the other hand regime change in Europe is not going as well.</p>
<p>44% THINK THINGS ARE WORSE after U.S. invasion and regime change: &#8220;I am talking about Europe. A Financial Times-Harris poll found great discontent with the European Union, which was an outgrowth of the Common Market, which was set up at the behest of the American government as a means of getting the nations of Old Europe to get along and quit having wars every generation or so.&#8221;<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2360103', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Patrick1</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2360070</link>
		<dc:creator>Patrick1</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:35:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2360070</guid>
		<description>So you say Iraq was better off under Saddam?
Here&#039;s an idea--let&#039;s ask the Iraqis!
By AcademicElephant Posted in War â€” Comments (13) / Email this page Â» / Leave a comment Â» 
The &quot;Life-was-Better-for-Iraqis-under-Saddam&quot; theme has been gathering strength as of late; of course it always does when the grim anniversary on the invasion draws near. And Monday marks four years since we went in. Just to review, consensus opinion holds that Iraq is consumed by a civil war that makes the &quot;brutal stability&quot; of Saddam seem a preferable option. And women were better off with Saddam. Children too. Not to mention gay Iraqis. Health care was better. As one crack analyst put it, &quot;Pretty much all you had to do in Saddam&#039;s Iraq was shut the hell up and mind your own business&quot;--et voila! Before those pesky sanctions, the economy boomed and the people were happy (or rather they knew their place--at least they should have if they knew what was good for them, as this author clearly does). Even the oracular Hans Blix says so. Oh, and the sainted Kofi Annan. 

There&#039;s lots more here.

Read on...

In the face of all this certainty, it seems counter-intuitive to suggest that even giving the levels of violence in the capital, Saddam&#039;s Iraq was not a haven of tolerance for gays and religious minorities, nor was it a model of progressive care for women and children. It was not a utopia of economic opportunity and prosperity. And those who so loudly and self-righteously trumpet their constitutionally-mandated freedoms here in the US might reflect that &quot;shutting up&quot; is a pretty high price to pay, even to live in the paradise that was Saddam&#039;s Iraq.

Of course, that&#039;s just my opinion. Everyone has an opinion. But maybe we should ask the Iraqis?

Luckily for us, an independent British polling company did just that. They deployed 400 employees to interview 5000 Iraqis on a range of subjects. Some of the results are not surprising, given what we see on the news everyday. Iraq is a violent place, and murder and kidnapping are a huge concern for many. But, even so, the survey came back with some other results that seem to fly in the face of the &quot;Iraq-was-better-under-Saddam&quot; crowd:

But 49 per cent of those questioned preferred life under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to living under Saddam, while 26 per cent said things were better in Saddam&#039;s era, 16 per cent said they were as bad as each other and the rest did not know or refused to answer. 

Not surprisingly, the divisions in Iraqi society were reflected in the statistics: Sunnis were more likely to back the previous Ba&#039;ath Party regime (51 per cent) while the Shi&#039;ites (66 per cent) preferred the Maliki Government. 

Mr Maliki, who gets much of his support from hardline Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi army, has begun to address criticism that his Government favours the Shi&#039;ites, going out of his way to be seen with Sunni tribal leaders. 

The poll shows a marked increase in support for Mr Maliki. A survey conducted by ORB in September found only 29 per cent of Iraqis had a favourable opinion of the Prime Minister. 

A surprise was that only 27 per cent believed they were caught up in a civil war. Again, that number divided along religious lines, with 41 per cent of Sunnis believing Iraq was in civil war, while 15 per cent of Shi&#039;ites thought things were that bad. 

That is a surprise. But we should probably take note, because with all due respect to Matt Lauer, wouldn&#039;t the Iraqis know better than he if they were in a civil war? I wonder of some Iraqis participating in earlier polls over there that fueled Saddam-nostalgia over here reflexively shaded their answers in favor of a violent tyrant who might yet return to power, especially if the Americans were to lose heart and leave. After all, Saddam survivors might feel that you never know for sure who&#039;s asking, or what they&#039;re really trying to find out. Now that Saddam is truly gone--and as gruesome as those photographs were, they do demonstrate the finality of his execution--a post-Saddam Iraq may be a more conceivable reality. Or perhaps it&#039;s even more simple, and the majority of Iraqis are realizing that the difficult battle waged over the last year is emerging as a success, not a failure. It follows that their lives can be better now. The future may well be bright--why waste time on a civil war?

Of course, if you really want to, you can still tease a negative headline out of this data, as Susan Page of USAToday demonstrates with &quot;Poll: Most Iraqis live in fear of violence 4 years after invasion.&quot; But as the train that is the new Iraq starts to pull out of the station, Ms. Page and her defeatist cohorts might find themselves, like the Iraqis who would prefer Saddam, in a dwindling minority.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So you say Iraq was better off under Saddam?<br />
Here&#8217;s an idea&#8211;let&#8217;s ask the Iraqis!<br />
By AcademicElephant Posted in War â€” Comments (13) / Email this page Â» / Leave a comment Â»<br />
The &#8220;Life-was-Better-for-Iraqis-under-Saddam&#8221; theme has been gathering strength as of late; of course it always does when the grim anniversary on the invasion draws near. And Monday marks four years since we went in. Just to review, consensus opinion holds that Iraq is consumed by a civil war that makes the &#8220;brutal stability&#8221; of Saddam seem a preferable option. And women were better off with Saddam. Children too. Not to mention gay Iraqis. Health care was better. As one crack analyst put it, &#8220;Pretty much all you had to do in Saddam&#8217;s Iraq was shut the hell up and mind your own business&#8221;&#8211;et voila! Before those pesky sanctions, the economy boomed and the people were happy (or rather they knew their place&#8211;at least they should have if they knew what was good for them, as this author clearly does). Even the oracular Hans Blix says so. Oh, and the sainted Kofi Annan. </p>
<p>There&#8217;s lots more here.</p>
<p>Read on&#8230;</p>
<p>In the face of all this certainty, it seems counter-intuitive to suggest that even giving the levels of violence in the capital, Saddam&#8217;s Iraq was not a haven of tolerance for gays and religious minorities, nor was it a model of progressive care for women and children. It was not a utopia of economic opportunity and prosperity. And those who so loudly and self-righteously trumpet their constitutionally-mandated freedoms here in the US might reflect that &#8220;shutting up&#8221; is a pretty high price to pay, even to live in the paradise that was Saddam&#8217;s Iraq.</p>
<p>Of course, that&#8217;s just my opinion. Everyone has an opinion. But maybe we should ask the Iraqis?</p>
<p>Luckily for us, an independent British polling company did just that. They deployed 400 employees to interview 5000 Iraqis on a range of subjects. Some of the results are not surprising, given what we see on the news everyday. Iraq is a violent place, and murder and kidnapping are a huge concern for many. But, even so, the survey came back with some other results that seem to fly in the face of the &#8220;Iraq-was-better-under-Saddam&#8221; crowd:</p>
<p>But 49 per cent of those questioned preferred life under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to living under Saddam, while 26 per cent said things were better in Saddam&#8217;s era, 16 per cent said they were as bad as each other and the rest did not know or refused to answer. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the divisions in Iraqi society were reflected in the statistics: Sunnis were more likely to back the previous Ba&#8217;ath Party regime (51 per cent) while the Shi&#8217;ites (66 per cent) preferred the Maliki Government. </p>
<p>Mr Maliki, who gets much of his support from hardline Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi army, has begun to address criticism that his Government favours the Shi&#8217;ites, going out of his way to be seen with Sunni tribal leaders. </p>
<p>The poll shows a marked increase in support for Mr Maliki. A survey conducted by ORB in September found only 29 per cent of Iraqis had a favourable opinion of the Prime Minister. </p>
<p>A surprise was that only 27 per cent believed they were caught up in a civil war. Again, that number divided along religious lines, with 41 per cent of Sunnis believing Iraq was in civil war, while 15 per cent of Shi&#8217;ites thought things were that bad. </p>
<p>That is a surprise. But we should probably take note, because with all due respect to Matt Lauer, wouldn&#8217;t the Iraqis know better than he if they were in a civil war? I wonder of some Iraqis participating in earlier polls over there that fueled Saddam-nostalgia over here reflexively shaded their answers in favor of a violent tyrant who might yet return to power, especially if the Americans were to lose heart and leave. After all, Saddam survivors might feel that you never know for sure who&#8217;s asking, or what they&#8217;re really trying to find out. Now that Saddam is truly gone&#8211;and as gruesome as those photographs were, they do demonstrate the finality of his execution&#8211;a post-Saddam Iraq may be a more conceivable reality. Or perhaps it&#8217;s even more simple, and the majority of Iraqis are realizing that the difficult battle waged over the last year is emerging as a success, not a failure. It follows that their lives can be better now. The future may well be bright&#8211;why waste time on a civil war?</p>
<p>Of course, if you really want to, you can still tease a negative headline out of this data, as Susan Page of USAToday demonstrates with &#8220;Poll: Most Iraqis live in fear of violence 4 years after invasion.&#8221; But as the train that is the new Iraq starts to pull out of the station, Ms. Page and her defeatist cohorts might find themselves, like the Iraqis who would prefer Saddam, in a dwindling minority.<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2360070', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Tobey Tall</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2359878</link>
		<dc:creator>Tobey Tall</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:30:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2359878</guid>
		<description>&lt;em&gt;Sad that you canâ€™t see the real crimes of Saddam Hussein and his regime, the mass mudering of millions.&lt;/em&gt;

news reports 2 days ago saying 1 million have died in Iraq as a direct result of american occupation

If Kofi Annan the Un secretary general says the Iraq war was illegal I would prefer to beleive him than any misinterperatation of the Un on behalf of the American Admin</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Sad that you canâ€™t see the real crimes of Saddam Hussein and his regime, the mass mudering of millions.</em></p>
<p>news reports 2 days ago saying 1 million have died in Iraq as a direct result of american occupation</p>
<p>If Kofi Annan the Un secretary general says the Iraq war was illegal I would prefer to beleive him than any misinterperatation of the Un on behalf of the American Admin<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2359878', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: howsad</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2358667</link>
		<dc:creator>howsad</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:10:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2358667</guid>
		<description>Tobey Tall, obviously you aren&#039;t much of a lawyer and you dont&#039; know much about truces and treaties.   

1) The IRaq War was completly legal.  After the end of the Gulf War I in 1990 neither the USA nor the UN signed a peace treaty with Iraq.  A truce was signed, very, very, very different than a peace treaty.  Just like N. Korea and S. Korea have a truce and not a peace treaty.  We all know that the Korean War has never officially and legally ended.  that is the same thing that happened in 1990.  

2)The truce that Iraq did sign had stipulations in it.  Among many things it called on Iraq to end human right abuses, you know the systematic and purposedly killing of hundreds of thousands of its citizens.  Stop researching and building WMDs.  Stop researching and building missles that could reach Europe and Israel, etc, etc, etc.  Now, for the sake of argument let us say that there were no WMDs, right?  But he did have long range missles that were forbiden under the UN truce, he mass murdered hundreds of thousands of his people.  These two things alone are a clear violation of the truce signed by Iraq in 1990, thus making the war completly legal.  

Sad that you can&#039;t see the real crimes of Saddam Hussein and his regime, the mass mudering of millions.  You seem to forget that you guys on the left supported Clinton when he went into Kosovo for Serbia&#039;s gross violations of human rights there.  You seem to forget that Liberals today are calling on Bush and his administration to take action against the government of Darfur since diplomacy failed.  

so you tell me, do you think that Iraqis are not human beings?  do you think that only people from Kosovo and Darfur and human enough for the USA to intervene and stop the mass killings from their governments?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Tobey Tall, obviously you aren&#8217;t much of a lawyer and you dont&#8217; know much about truces and treaties.   </p>
<p>1) The IRaq War was completly legal.  After the end of the Gulf War I in 1990 neither the USA nor the UN signed a peace treaty with Iraq.  A truce was signed, very, very, very different than a peace treaty.  Just like N. Korea and S. Korea have a truce and not a peace treaty.  We all know that the Korean War has never officially and legally ended.  that is the same thing that happened in 1990.  </p>
<p>2)The truce that Iraq did sign had stipulations in it.  Among many things it called on Iraq to end human right abuses, you know the systematic and purposedly killing of hundreds of thousands of its citizens.  Stop researching and building WMDs.  Stop researching and building missles that could reach Europe and Israel, etc, etc, etc.  Now, for the sake of argument let us say that there were no WMDs, right?  But he did have long range missles that were forbiden under the UN truce, he mass murdered hundreds of thousands of his people.  These two things alone are a clear violation of the truce signed by Iraq in 1990, thus making the war completly legal.  </p>
<p>Sad that you can&#8217;t see the real crimes of Saddam Hussein and his regime, the mass mudering of millions.  You seem to forget that you guys on the left supported Clinton when he went into Kosovo for Serbia&#8217;s gross violations of human rights there.  You seem to forget that Liberals today are calling on Bush and his administration to take action against the government of Darfur since diplomacy failed.  </p>
<p>so you tell me, do you think that Iraqis are not human beings?  do you think that only people from Kosovo and Darfur and human enough for the USA to intervene and stop the mass killings from their governments?<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2358667', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: howsad</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2358573</link>
		<dc:creator>howsad</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:03:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2358573</guid>
		<description>amazing how dishonest thinkprogress.org and others that hate Bush and Republicans are....

why doesn&#039;t thinkprogress.org bother to put up the biggest poll done in Iraq by a UK polling company that shows that 42% of Iraqis don&#039;t believe their country is in a civil war, while 27% do.  

why doesn&#039;t it show the polls that say that most Iraqis don&#039;t want the USA to leave yet?  

obviously, it would be too much to ask for a ultra-liberal organization like thinkprogress.org to show both side of the coins.  how truly and honestly sad.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>amazing how dishonest thinkprogress.org and others that hate Bush and Republicans are&#8230;.</p>
<p>why doesn&#8217;t thinkprogress.org bother to put up the biggest poll done in Iraq by a UK polling company that shows that 42% of Iraqis don&#8217;t believe their country is in a civil war, while 27% do.  </p>
<p>why doesn&#8217;t it show the polls that say that most Iraqis don&#8217;t want the USA to leave yet?  </p>
<p>obviously, it would be too much to ask for a ultra-liberal organization like thinkprogress.org to show both side of the coins.  how truly and honestly sad.<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2358573', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: DM</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2358001</link>
		<dc:creator>DM</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:38:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2358001</guid>
		<description>In what way is Iraq free?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In what way is Iraq free?<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2358001', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Tobey Tall</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2352398</link>
		<dc:creator>Tobey Tall</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:14:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2352398</guid>
		<description>The war was illegal from the start as a preemptive war of aggression banned by the Geneva Accords. The Bush administration clearly knew Iraq posed no imminent threat to the United States and yet ordered the attack and occupation anyway of the sovereign nation whose only real crime was having the audacity to live on top of one of the world&#039;s largest oil fields.

&lt;strong&gt;The only real support for the Government are young immature thugs running round shouting Nuke Iraq thats exactly how low this goverment support has stooped too&lt;/strong&gt;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The war was illegal from the start as a preemptive war of aggression banned by the Geneva Accords. The Bush administration clearly knew Iraq posed no imminent threat to the United States and yet ordered the attack and occupation anyway of the sovereign nation whose only real crime was having the audacity to live on top of one of the world&#8217;s largest oil fields.</p>
<p><strong>The only real support for the Government are young immature thugs running round shouting Nuke Iraq thats exactly how low this goverment support has stooped too</strong><a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2352398', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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		<title>By: Tobey Tall</title>
		<link>http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/comment-page-2/#comment-2352327</link>
		<dc:creator>Tobey Tall</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:08:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/19/iraqis-thanking-america/#comment-2352327</guid>
		<description>In the Uk it said on TV &quot;support for war 1 in three&quot;

next it shows a car with young thugs driving past shouting at war protestors &quot;Nuke Iraq&quot;

This is the support for the Goverment young Thugs

 &quot;that explains the low levels goverments have to go to get support every&quot;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In the Uk it said on TV &#8220;support for war 1 in three&#8221;</p>
<p>next it shows a car with young thugs driving past shouting at war protestors &#8220;Nuke Iraq&#8221;</p>
<p>This is the support for the Goverment young Thugs</p>
<p> &#8220;that explains the low levels goverments have to go to get support every&#8221;<a href="javascript:void(0)" title=""  onmouseover="window.status=''; return true" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true" onclick="ddrc_popup('http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/plugins/dd-report-comments/report.php?c=2352327', 400, 400)"></a></p>
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