78% of Americans concerned Dems will abandon Iraq. Should this concern us?

[Clarkie1]

"While a bare majority of 51 percent called the Democrats' victory "a good thing," even more said they were concerned about some of the actions a Democratic Congress might take, including 78 percent who were somewhat or very concerned that it would seek too hasty a withdrawal of troops from Iraq."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061112/pl_nm/usa_elections_poll_dc_2

DU needs to learn from this. Americans want whatever degree of success in Iraq that is still achievable...which is probably the difference between a mess and a chaotic mess.

We need to be smart. We need to have proposals that focus on bringing stability to the region, and support such proposals in a bi-partisan manner. We need to take the high road and not try to be perceived as using Iraq for political gain. We need to be perceived as being more concerned about Iraq and the troops than attacking the President.

We need to be patriots, not partisans. We need to lead.

[onenote]

1. is it too late for a snack?

:popcorn:

[LoZoccolo]

3. .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuhOj2dQTrk

[mmonk]

2. I don't think they need to worry.

The executive branch won't allow it.

[oblivious]

4. Try the people who started the damn thing for war crimes. Pay reparations.

Maybe then someone will take America seriously.

Otherwise, just forget it. It's out of your hands. It's out of control.

[JI7]

5. i don't know of any Democrat who has called for "abandoning" Iraq

[Porcupine]

25. I say if leaving means "abandoning Iraq" so be it. I'm a Democrat

The people who were down at the weekly peace vigil this morning would also be in favor of leaving Iraq. I'm sure that includes ALL members of our local Vets for Peace group. They were all Democrats last I checked.

I say we start in the north and start driving our truck south and leave. Any weapons or munitions that would endanger the lives of Iraqi's we destroy if we can't take it with us. Any medical or engineering supplies we leave or donate to the local civic authorities.

There are very few places in Iraq where a single american can survive outside of the bases or the green zone. These people seriously don't want the US there.

Leave, abandon, bug out, retreat, strategic withdrawal, call-it-victory-and-go -home the result will be the same. We will no longer be directly killing Iraqi's and we will no longer have Iraqi's killing US troops.

Most Importantly....Don't Look Back!! lest ye be turned into a pillar of salt. Ugly shit will be happening behind the withdrawing US troops that is our responsiblilty. But heading back into the pit will not serve the Iraqi people in the long run.

Yeah. Abandon Iraq. Cut every nickel from the US federal budget that might be spent there. Shut the whole freaking mess down if * won't sign the bill.

We got a mandate and it sure as hell wasn't to kiss W's ass for two years.

[LoZoccolo]

6. I would agree with your points.

I believe in taking responsibility for what may be a public misperception of what the Democratic agenda truly is, rather than complaining that it shouldn't be there.

I guess that's also in line with how I feel we should take responsibility for what we've done to Iraq by invading it rather than acting as if that never happened either. I guess one's position on both things boils down to one's sense of responsibility!

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LoZoccolo]

8. Don't be a "hero".

Just give us the pizza.

[still_one]

14. I think the implication is there with this paragraph:

"But they also expressed concerns that Democrats might seek to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq too quickly or hamper the administration's efforts to combat terrorism, it said."

The reason I find it suspect because bush said ANYONE WHO VOTED DEMOCRATIC voted for the terrorists

This election told the media and the administration to stick it

Remember we won because the PEOPLE DIDN'T BELIEVE the BULL coming from the administration OR the MSM

[Old and In the Way]

9. I still don't know what the definition of "winning" is.

Until we agree with what is meant by winning, how can we develop a policy to win? Personally, I doubt we can "win" in Iraq. The only thing we can do is decide the magnitude of our losses.

[still_one]

10. EXCUSE ME!!! This smells like MSM propaganda to CYA

The administrations ENTIRE campaign was if you vote for the Democrats they will cut and run, and a vote for Democrats is a vote for the terrorists

Then you have the MSM saying the polls indicate the gap is closing, and MAYBE the republicans will retain control

After the elections when the Democrats won, and controlled Congress, you have the MSM indicate that it was because IRAQ WAS THE BIGGEST ISSUE WHY the republicans lost

Poll after poll showed this administrations popularity at all time lows, and people's support of the Iraq war less than 50%

Excuse my skepticism, and French, but they are FU*KING LIARS

For six years the MSM supported this administration and the WAR. Now they are trying to cover up THEIR ineptness by pushing the Dems to screw up like they did along with their leader

They can all go to hell. WHAT WILL HAPPEN is MURTHA'S plan WILL BE ACCEPTED, but it will be under the guise of the "baker commission"

I believe people know better this time

One of the first things this Congress should also do is BRING BACK THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE

[HaggardsMethDealer]

11. Let's see what the Americans say after the investigations happen.

:D

[still_one]

12. The Americans already spoke, they gave Democrats control of Congress

and IT WAS BECAUSE OF IRAQ

I do NOT believe that 80% of the Americans want us to stay in Iraq, this is a setup poll

We just had an election, and they said JUST THE OPPOSITE

[azurnoir]

18. The problem is that

it is as morally reprehensible to just leave,we can't after f***ing the infrastructure and creating daily anarchy and death for the Iraqi people we can not just go "oops our bad, we effed up so sorry" and leave. We should get out of the security business there and turn it over to more neutral parties possibly an international force of non-coalition parties, that would not have been possible had * not had his ego gelded this week and concentrate on reparations and rebuilding.

[still_one]

20. How do you control a civil war?

[azurnoir]

23. You can't at least not entirely

But the handing over of the military security to others who have had no monetary or political stake in this, including troops from other Arab countries Egypt and Jordan come to mind, may well help the fire to burn down a bit.

[BeatleBoot]

13. The COMMANDER - IN - CHIEF Runs the Military - NOT Congress

Bush runs the U.S. Military

NOT CONGRESS.

[azurnoir]

15. The wording in the

article is comcern that as in the troops would be pulled out "too quickly".

[still_one]

16. I got a better idea, let those 78% who are so concerned, SEND THEIR KIDS TO IRAQ

let's see how concerned they will be then

[msmcghee]

17. Good question.

The public has had it drilled into them for the last 40 years at least that Dems are weak on military matters - that we need "strong father" Republicans to handle such tough-minded things. Of course it's total bullshit - but this meme has currency - and it is strong in almost everyone's mind including most Democratic voters' minds.

Add to that that on the far left - there are those who believe that the US is an imperialist / colonialist power (you can find a bunch of them here) and that any military campaign we are involved with is defacto a form of oppression against the third world poor in favor of corporatism.

This view is very understandable thanks to Nixon, Reagan, BushI, Bush II - who actually fit that description pretty well. But it was Democrats (Truman) who fought the Nazis and Imperial Japan and pretty much saved our asses. It was Clinton who lead the NATO effort in Kosovo - both honorable conflicts to wage IMO - and both very competently carried out.

But such strong memes are far more powerful than history. I'm worried that maybe hatred of Republicans will cause many Dem voters to prefer candidates who do not take the threat from Islamic-fascism seriously - who think that if we appease them they will not want to kill us.

I think that would be a huge mistake. The same wishful (and morally weak) thinking delayed our entry into WWII and probably caused several hundred thousand dead (at least).

As of this election, if we get hit by a major terrorist attack that takes American lives - I'd say that the recent liberal shift at the polls would be in some real danger. I'd like to see our new Dem majority in congress take immediate measures to elevate the seriousness of a potential attack in their to do list. I think we will get hit again. I want to see our Dem leadership more than prepared for that - and actively insisting on smart and competent defensive measures for intelligence, homeland security, etc. before it happens.

The pukes callously used that threat for political purposes - that doesn't mean it is not real.

One sure way to show our weakness as a nation and as Dems - is to reduce our support for Israel. That's a whole other chapter but we need to be smart, strong, active, proactive and united with other democracies like Israel in defending America from worldwide terrorism. If we fail to do that voters will kick us out on our asses - and we'll deserve it.

[Clarkie1]

24. Great post.

:thumbsup:

[ProSense]

19. Media still pushing the Dems have no plan!

It's not abandoning, it's strategically smart:

Senator Kerry's plan

Exit polls: Iraq upsets most voters

By The Associated Press Thu Nov 9, 8:03 PM ET

How voters felt about the war in Iraq, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and the networks. The poll of 13,485 voters was taken at selected precincts nationwide on Election Day and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.

IRAQ APPROVAL: More than half of voters, 55 percent, said they disapproved of the war in Iraq, and they were far more likely to vote for Democratic House candidates. A quarter of conservatives and almost as many Republicans disapprove.

U.S. SECURITY: Six in 10 said the war in Iraq has not made the United States more secure. Those voters were far more inclined to vote for Democratic candidates. More than eight in 10 Democrats and seven in 10 independents felt that way.

BRING TROOPS HOME: More than half of voters, 55 percent, favored bringing some or all troops home from Iraq. A fourth said the U.S. should withdraw some troops and three in 10 said all troops should be withdrawn. More than eight in 10 Democrats said some or all troops should be withdrawn while six in 10 independents felt that way. A fourth of Republicans want to withdraw some or all of the troops from Iraq.

IRAQ's IMPORTANCE AS AN ISSUE: Two-thirds of voters said Iraq was very or extremely important to them. Those who said they were "extremely" concerned were more likely to vote Democratic.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. We need to get out of the Iraqi's country and forget the polls.

We are not helping the situation in Iraq. We have brought it, and continue bringing, chaos to the whole region with our neo-colonialist, racist, and predatory policies there and around the world.

[porphyrian]

22. Polls say what you want them to in media. - n/t

[OneBlueSky]

26. Iraq presents us with the nothing but bad options . . .

and a lot of is has to do with the old "you broke it, you bought it" saw . . . the damage we have done to that nation is incalculable, and to just pick up and leave will likely make things a thousand times worse . . . the fact that we have no business being there in the first place doesn't mean that the solution is to leave a nation that WE devastated to devolve into an all-out civil war . . .

the most difficult challenge we face is what to do about Iraq, and I for one have no idea what the solution is . . . staying there insures that more US troops and more Iraqis will die, and that the country will undergo even more devastation . . . leaving insures that while no more US troops will die, the chaos may well mean full-blown civil war that increases Iraqi casualties well beyond their already horrendous level . . .

I hope that among the Democrats we just elected there are some with innovative ideas about how to extricate us from this mess . . .

[Big Sky Boy]

27. How soon is too soon?

No WMD.
No Link to Al Quaeda.
No Reason to be there.

The overwhelming majority of voters said they wanted a change of direction in Iraq. If that doesn't mean they support some form of withdrawal (as nearly every plank in the Baker report apparently does) than what do they want?

Americans need to face facts. There is a civil war in Iraq right now. When we leave, it will only get worse. Tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of people are going to die in a wave of ethnic cleansing. The world will hold us responsible for that. They told us not to go in there and our leaders ignored them. The blood is on our hands.

If we want to minimize the carnage, we can try to install another Saddam-like tyrant who can keep a lid on the situation like he did. Otherwise we walk and leave them to their own devices--undesirable because Iraq has already become an Afghanistan-like breeding ground for terrorists. Whatever we do we will need to stay engaged, which will most likely mean spending most of our foreign aid budget on Iraq for decades to come.

We are losing on average two or three service members every day (and maiming three to five more). A young John Kerry once courageously asked "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" This war is a mistake. As difficult as it may be to swallow, many of our best and brightest are dying for no good reason at all. We do not honor their sacrifice by leaving more troops in harms way.

It takes courage to admit you've started something you cannot finish. It takes even more courage to walk away from that mistake.

If anyone is "afraid" that Democrats or anyone else will "abandon" Iraq too soon (like that can happen--dubya is still Commander in Chief), let them sign up for a tour in Iraq.

[lcordero2]

28. 21st century "manifest destiny" is obsolete

and supporting it is economic suicide since the attacks on the US Dollar are gaining steam.

This poll is garbage and should be dealt with like if it was garbage.

[Quixote1818]

29. Most Americans want us out of Iraq though????

I suggest we put a military face on our proposals. Use guys like Wes Clark, Paul Hackett and John Murtha to talk directly to the American people and why we must bring the troops home and how we go about doing that.