Iraqi's want US to stay awhile

[Quillan]

I wonder how this poll was conducted.  Getting a representative sample of Iraqis must be quite the challenge, what with the situation over there.  I imagine it would be as difficult as getting a representative sample of Afghans in order to poll what they thought of the state of their country after US intervention.

A good question... why not read the article. The truth of this one, which seems to have eluded even the orignal poster, is in the details. I imagine the fellow who linked to this read the first paragraph, realized it supported his thought, and posted the link. If you did that you'd only read:

Most in Baghdad want U.S. to stay
From combined dispatches
BAGHDAD — More than two-thirds of Baghdad residents would like to see U.S. troops stay in Iraq for an extended period, according to a poll conducted by the Gallup Organization in the violence-racked Iraqi capital

Yup, there it is. So more than 2/3 is simple, thats > 66.6%. Personally, i wondered what an 'extended period' means. So I read on, and after changing the subject for the next two paragraphs so you think they're done on the subject, they continue:

Seventy-one percent of Baghdad residents believe U.S. troops should not leave within the next few months, according to the Gallup Poll released yesterday in Washington. Twenty-six percent feel the troops should leave that soon.

So of the 1178 who responded to the question 'should the US troops leave within the next few months', 71% said no. Personally, when i think of the american presense in Iraq, the words 'extended period' conjure up somewhere in the 10-15 year range, but hey, i suppose thats just my prejudice. Even so, think to yourself: 'when i read that sentance, what did i think?' Did you think that it meant LESS than 3 months? Try one more time: More than two-thirds of Baghdad residents would like to see U.S. troops stay in Iraq for an extended period --- think if your aunt betsy said she had to leave the continent and go to iraq for an extended period... surely you think, well, see you in 3 months!


Still, 26% of the people in Baghdad WANT the US to leave within 3 months. Add in this next line of the article:

Almost six in 10 — 58 percent — say U.S. troops in Baghdad have behaved fairly well or very well, with one in 10 saying very well. Twenty percent say the troops have behaved fairly badly and 9 percent say very badly.

Also misleading, they include both fairly well and very well in the 58%, then mention the very well seperately as 1 in 10. Notice they didn't show the math the same with fairly and very badly, otherwise they'd have said 29% and 9%... In addition, not including a neutral answer tends to favor the positive in this question. But what about this:

A sizable minority feel there are circumstances in which attacks against U.S. troops could be justified. Almost one in five — 19 percent — say attacks could be justified, and an additional 17 percent say they could be in some situations.

key words here, 'sizable minority' and 'additional'... so 19 % say attacks against the US 'liberators' are justified, and 36% say that they could be in some situations! By spliting the words and numbers they confuse people... does 36% of people saying attacks are justified seem like a sizable minority to you?

So maybe the headline should have read: over 1/3 of Baghdad's people believe that attacks on US forces are justified... but nah, we get
More than two-thirds of Baghdad residents would like to see U.S. troops stay in Iraq for an extended period

so 36% is a 'sizable minority' and 3 months is an 'extended period'. Once again, think about what those words mean to you.

Ok, blah blah blah, i'm a bad person, but this is my FAVORITE part. This article appeared within the past 2 days remember:

The poll of 1,178 adults was taken between Aug. 28 and Sept. 4 and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

and this poll was taken 6 weeks ago... the average attacks on US service members in Iraq since then has gone up from 12 to 17 a day. Most international organizations have pulled out or dramatically reduced their presense. Yes, the media is very misleading... good thing we have ann coulter and the original poster to protect us from the liberal dominated media. I'd have been happy if this trashy article had been buried rather than sully the truth so that joe sixpack could propagate the myth about liberal bias in the media in such esteemed halls as these.

Quillan