Iraqis voice support for attacks on UK troops (1 Viewer)

[supercharged]

Iraqis voice support for attacks on UK troops
October 23, 2005

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A secret poll commissioned by senior British officials shows that millions of Iraqis believe suicide attacks against British and US troops are justified, a newspaper reported today.

The poll shows up to 65 per cent of Iraqi citizens support attacks and fewer than one per cent think allied military involvement is helping to improve security in their country, the Sunday Telegraph said.

The nationwide survey, undertaken for the Ministry of Defence, demonstrates for the first time the true strength of anti-Western feeling in Iraq after more than two and a half years of bloody occupation, the newspaper said.

The survey also suggests that the coalition has lost the battle to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, which British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush believed was fundamental to creating a safe and secure country, it said.

The newspaper also said Lieutenant Colonel Nick Henderson, the commanding officer of the Coldstream Guards in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, in charge of security for the region, has resigned from the army.

He recently voiced concerns over a lack of armoured vehicles for his men, another of whom was killed in a bomb attack in Basra last week.

The secret poll appears to contradict claims made by General Sir Mike Jackson, the Chief of the General Staff, who only days ago congratulated British soldiers for "supporting the Iraqi people in building a new and better Iraq".

Andrew Robathan, a former member of the elite Special Air Service and the Conservative shadow defence minister, said the poll clearly showed a complete failure of government policy.

"This clearly states that the government's hearts-and-minds policy has been disastrous. The coalition is now part of the problem and not the solution," Robathan was quoted as saying.

"I am not advocating a pull-out but if British soldiers are putting their lives on the line for a cause which is not supported by the Iraqi people then we have to ask the question, 'what are we doing there?'"

AFP

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/ir...ks-on-uk-troops/2005/10/23/1130005993408.html

 

[loquasagacious]

Suprising why?

Were our country invaded by a foriegn force of overwhelming techonological superiority (not a possibility I know but the hypothetical stands) then we would doubtless support attacks against them and indeed honour those who died for the cause.

It is overly simplistic to isolate suicide attacks to muslims as some kind of cultural pecularity. Kamikaze pilots flew under the same premise. In our own culture we hold the greatest respect for those who are willing to sacrifice themselves in an attack to save others. The dirty dozen gained redemtion through being willing to die and this is a story repeated pervasively in our culture. Going back easily to napoleonic times when soldiers volunteered for the 'forlorn hope' that is the first wave who would charge into a breach.

Or perhaps think of the nobility encapsulated by Shakespeare in Henry V "Once more into the breach my friends......"

 

[syera]

Suprising why?

Were our country invaded by a foriegn force of overwhelming techonological superiority (not a possibility I know but the hypothetical stands) then we would doubtless support attacks against them and indeed honour those who died for the cause.

I agree.

The Iraqi people have every right to support suicide attacks against the occupying forces there. There attacks are definately justified. Obviously the US and British forces haven't won their hearts, why are they so surprised? Look at what they're doing to their country.
I hope their armies get bombed.

 

[thorrnydevil]

I agree.

The Iraqi people have every right to support suicide attacks against the occupying forces there. There attacks are definately justified. Obviously the US and British forces haven't won their hearts, why are they so surprised? Look at what they're doing to their country.
I hope their armies get bombed.

Yeah I know...it's terrible what they're doing to Iraq...you know...liberating them and all.

I'm against the war these days, but suicide attacks are just wrong...if all those involved want there own life the US should ship them off to Iran or Zimbabwe, they'd love that.

 

[sly fly]

Liberating??? pfffft you call this liberating -

http://www.robert-fisk.com/iraqiterrorist.jpg

http://www.houstonfoundry.com/freedom_for_iraqi_children.JPG

http://mindprod.com/images/iraqphosphorus1.jpg

http://www.robert-fisk.com/bloodied_child_2.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/inuk_NoWar/pic_iraqi_child_victim.JPG

http://www.robert-fisk.com/1_147151_1_6.jpg

I don't agree with suicide bombings but I do believe in self defence.....and no, not self defence that involves killing innocent civilians

 

[thorrnydevil]

Do you have any photos of the 1 million kurds and Iraqis killed?

Oh, I guess Saddam was better than the Americans as he only killed Kurds and different sects of muslims from his own.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

Liberating??? pfffft you call this liberating -

Your argument is that because children are being severely injured and killed that in the long run they will not be liberated? argumentum ad misericordiam

 

[sly fly]

I never said Saddam liberated them, he was just as bad. That still doesn't change the fact that the American's aren't liberating them.

 

[sly fly]

Your argument is that because children are being severely injured and killed that in the long run they will not be liberated? argumentum ad misericordiam

The end doesn't justify the means

 

[Not-That-Bright]

The end doesn't justify the means

So you don't believe that if Iraq does end up being a free, democratic country within the next few years the deaths of some were not justified?

 

[sly fly]

That's right.....I've always believed that a noble end must have a noble means

 

[supercharged]

So you don't believe that if Iraq does end up being a free, democratic country within the next few years the deaths of some were not justified?

The odds of that happening is very unlikely. More likely would be continued chaos and a three way civil war with a higher final death toll than all the Arnie movies put together.

 

[syera]

So you don't believe that if Iraq does end up being a free, democratic country within the next few years the deaths of some were not justified?

The deaths of some??? That is extremely underestimated.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

I was using some as a relative term.

 

[Raginsheep]

The odds of that happening is very unlikely. More likely would be continued chaos and a three way civil war with a higher final death toll than all the Arnie movies put together.

And what would you do? Pull out and leave the region even more unstable than before?

 

[supercharged]

And what would you do? Pull out and leave the region even more unstable than before?

I would pull out and leave America to tidy up its own mess. They invaded Iraq, Iraq is now a non-functioning state and a security disaster. Who has the responsibility of fixing that up? They do.

 

[walrusbear]

And what would you do? Pull out and leave the region even more unstable than before?

if you were an early supporter of the war then please don't bother

it's frustrating the amount of people who were initially gung-ho about war talking down to people who want to leave to region. as far as i'm concerned you supported the giant fuck up and are no longer qualified to an opinion on the matter

 

[sly fly]

Oh and you've been to Iraq right? I bet you don't even know an Iraqi living in Australia let alone one living in Iraq.

Don't make comments about things you don't know about. My best friend is Iraqi. Her parents are both doctors, her brother is in Newcastle uni atm studying medicine, she wants to do pharmacy at Sydney uni and her family are one of the kindest people I've ever met........apes from a jungle?? I don't think so.

 

[Comrade nathan]

Iraq? Free, democratic? To have a free and democratic society, the people within a country, first, have to be kind and have to want to work towards such a system.

The iraqis..... are iraqis ... and are living like people did 400000 years ago.

"You can take the ape out of jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the ape."

Your an idiot.

 

[Calculon]

if you were an early supporter of the war then please don't bother

it's frustrating the amount of people who were initially gung-ho about war talking down to people who want to leave to region. as far as i'm concerned you supported the giant fuck up and are no longer qualified to an opinion on the matter

Who ever said that it was going to be easy? I supported the war in the first place and I have continued to support it, because in the end, no matter how long it takes, the coalition will eventually prevail and both peace and relative freedom will be established in Iraq.

I would pull out and leave America to tidy up its own mess. They invaded Iraq, Iraq is now a non-functioning state and a security disaster. Who has the responsibility of fixing that up? They do.

Australia and the UK were both part of the original military action, it's our mess as well as Americas.