Pelosi: Iraqi Optimism highlights Bush Surge Failure

Pelosi: Iraqi Optimism Highlights Bush Surge Failure
by Scott Ott

(2007-03-18) — A new poll shows Iraqis are “irrationally optimistic, misguided in their support of the new government and in denial about the civil war raging in their country,” according to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“These are just a few of the devastating consequences of the Bush surge in Iraq,” said Rep. Pelosi, D-CA, “and I fear that we’re seeing only the tip of iceberg.”

The survey of 5,019 Iraqis, published today, showed that despite almost daily car bombings and sectarian tensions, 49 percent prefer the government of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki to the more stable regime of the late President Saddam Hussein. Only 26 percent said things had been better under Mr. Hussein.

“Clearly these people are out of touch with the reality on the ground in Iraq,” said Mrs. Pelosi in an interview at her San Francisco office. “If they had read the New York Times or watched CNN, they would never draw these ridiculous conclusions.”

The poll showed that only 27 percent of Iraqis believe the country is embroiled in a civil war.

“As this poll shows, the ravages of civil war have taken their toll,” Rep. Pelosi said. “The Iraqi people are in deep denial. We need to reverse course now before things get much worse and they start thinking that their country can become a bastion of freedom and democracy in the heart of the totalitarian Arab world.”