Last year at this time, I was complaining that the 5th anniversary of our invasion of Iraq was approaching with restrained media attention. But this year makes 2008's response look like a media orgy. Of course, what's new is the economic crisis, which does deserve prime play.
But still: Despite progress there, we still have as many troops in Iraq as we did two years ago with withdrawal coming very, very slowly. To get a fresh look at that, consider the following shocking new ABC/BBC/NHK poll out of Iraq.
It finds that most Iraqis agree that things are going better there. At the same time, they seem to hate and distrust the U.S. more than ever.
Last year, 70% of Iraqis in the same survey said we were doing a bad job there. This year that dropped all the way to ...69%. And that includes the always more favorable views of the Kurds.
That means 90% of Sunnis are negative (remember, they are supposed to be "awakening" towards us), and two out of three Shiites -- largely unchanged from 2008.
Nearly as many (64%) say the U.S. is hurting Iraq as Iran (68%). But the views of nearly every other country have improved quite a bit, including Saudi Arabia, Syria and the UK.
But here's the key finding and the rejoinder to the constant call for war critics (and Obama) to admit that it was, despite everything, correct to topple Saddam: 56% now say the U.S. was wrong to invade, actually up (despite the cooling of violence) since last year's 50%. And 57% say they aren't too concerned about what might happen after the U.S. exits.
In fact, about half want us to leave faster than the current timetable.
From an ABC summary:
Just 27 percent are confident in U.S. forces (albeit nearly double its low). Just 30 percent say U.S. and coalition forces have done a good job carrying out their responsibilities in Iraq. Still fewer, 18 percent, have a positive opinion of the United States overall. Barely over a third think the election of Barack Obama will help their country.
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Greg Mitchell's latest book is "Why Obama Won." His book last year on Iraq and the media was aptly titled, "So Wrong for So Long."