So Much for the spin

Well Iraq is not the paradise on the Tigris that Murdoch's Times of London was trying to claim it is yesterday. Although as Cernig pointed out not even the poll they cited backed up their claims. A new poll sponsored by ABC News, USA Today, BBC and ARD paints a very dismal picture:
Voices From Iraq 2007: Ebbing Hope in a Landscape of Loss

A new national survey paints a devastating portrait of life in Iraq: widespread violence, torn lives, displaced families, emotional damage, collapsing services, an ever starker sectarian chasm — and a draining away of the underlying optimism that once prevailed.

Violence is the cause, its reach vast. Eighty percent of Iraqis report attacks nearby — car bombs, snipers, kidnappings, armed forces fighting each other or abusing civilians. It's worst by far in the capital of Baghdad, but by no means confined there.

The personal toll is enormous. More than half of Iraqis, 53 percent, have a close friend or relative who's been hurt or killed in the current violence. One in six says someone in their own household has been harmed. Eighty-six percent worry about a loved one being hurt; two-thirds worry deeply. Huge numbers limit their daily activities to minimize risk. Seven in 10 report multiple signs of traumatic stress.

And we have this;
Few Iraqis trust U.S. forces four years on

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four in five Iraqis have little or no confidence in U.S.-led forces and most think their presence is making security worse, but despite that only about a third want them to leave now, a poll showed on Monday.

So how have attitudes changed. This graph says it all.
A majority think things have significantly deteriorated since November 2005. Not to surprisingly the Murdoch/Times spin didn't hold water. The United States gets much of the blame for the violence so this is not too surprising.

The number of Iraqis who call it "acceptable" to attack U.S. and coalition forces, 17 percent in early 2004, has tripled to 51 percent now, led by near unanimity among Sunni Arabs. And 78 percent of Iraqis now oppose the presence of U.S. forces on their soil, though far fewer favor an immediate pullout.

Get the troops out NOW!