Friday, January 26, 2007

What If the Iraqis Were Asked to Vote on a Continued US Presence in Their Country?

What would they say? Those intriguing thoughts are raised by this post. The guy who wrote it has a particular axe to grind. I don't; I'm not advocating anything in the way of policy here.

But, given that Iraq has held several successful elections, it isn't entirely implausible to believe that they could hold a successful nationwide poll or referendum on a continuing US presence there.

If the Iraqis voted that we should stay, what impact would that have on US public opinion or US policy?

And what if they wanted us to go?

I obviously don't know how the Iraqi people feel or how we might respond to a vote on this matter. But as we weigh future US policy in Iraq, it would be interesting to know what the Iraqis think.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mark-

Over the last two years, there have been many respectable public opinion polls taken in Iraq by major news organizations and even the U.S military.

The results have consistently reflected that Iraqis overwhelmingly want U.S. troops to leave Iraq. ASAP!

I've always assumed that you've been reading the Iraqi bloggers who blog dsicreetly and anonymously (updated Anne Frank style). Perhaps the best known is Riverbend, here:
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

The Bush Administration would never permit such a vote against the U.S. to take place.

(Enjoying your video blogging, by the way. With the premature outbreak of campaign 2008, I've been a tad too busy to comment or even keep up with the larger blogosphere.)

Deborah

Mark Daniels said...

Deborah:
Frankly, I was unaware of those polls.

I'll bet you have been busy. The presidential campaigns are way too long!

Mark