Orrin Judd has a little snippet that shows just how out of touch some people are:

Liev Schreiber is filming a book called Everything is Illuminated and went out of his way to hire an aspiring Iraqi filmmaker who he'd seen on MTV's True Life:

"We felt really guilty about what our country had done to his country," says producer Peter Saraf. "And then, of course, he gets here, and it never occurred to me that he would say something like 'But I love George Bush--he changed my life!'"

Well, at least is shows that these people are sincere in their apparent belief that the Iraqis were better off under Saddam. While there are certainly Iraqis unhappy that we removed him from power (they blew up seventy of their compatriots just a few hours ago, after all), to just what kind of mindset would it never occur that there might be some who are grateful?

Of course, if the Republicans take my suggestion, we can be sure that it will just be dismissed as right-wing propaganda, and the Iraqi patriots will be derided and vilified as quislings.

it never occurred to me

Take your suggestion one step farther.

"Introducing Senator McCain... from Mossul..
...from Baquba... from Basra..."

Background = crowds with two flags.

Tough to not report 'good news' when it is part of the prime time RNC.

I'd also like to see a poll of Iraqis: Who would _you_ vote for if you could?

It IS striking, isn't it, that while we find out who Canadians, Frenchmen, EUropeans of all stripes would vote for in the US election, we don't hear much about who the Iraqis or the Afghans might vote for.

Why is that?

It astonishes me that *any* American of whatever political stripe gives what foreigners (leader, patriot, or peasant) think of our leaders (current or potential) more than a passing thought. Folks, people choose leaders based on two things; philosophy and which leader provides the most advantage to the individual making the choice.

It's not a given that the interests of $FOREIGNER will coincide with the interests of the US populace.

I'm not surprised at Peter Saraf's reaction. For the most part, it should be easy to tell which Iraqis like or are neutral about America and which ones hate us. If an Iraqi is shooting at you, he doesn't like you. If he is trying to sell you something or enjoying your company, he is probably more middle of the road.

Derek - I agree with you... to a point.

What a random Frenchman thinks for instance.

But I don't _care_ how the War in Iraq affected _France_.

I do care how it affected Iraqis.

_IF_ they were 95% 'If I see an American, I'll shoot him the dirty bastards' -> that _would_ make the 'War in Iraq' a horrendous decision.

If, however, there is a grudging acceptance after just _one_ year, before the major contracts start really kicking in (due to insane governmental procurement rules)... then that's a different datum.

The opinion of the Iraqi's is central to answering the question 'Did we do something that was _both_ tactically and strategically sound?'

The poll "Who would you vote for" is a _different_ poll than 'Do you like the Americans here'. But I'm only using it to look at a single plank of the party platform.