This Is Sad.

Sorry to get all political on a Friday, but this is a pretty interesting article. Sounds like these people know the Dems pretty well.

Democrats' victory unnerves Baghdad
Diplomat tells Iraqis U.S. won't ditch them

By Aamer Madhani, Tribune staff reporter. Nadeem Majeed and Sinan Adhem contributed to this report
Published November 9, 2006


BAGHDAD -- Across the capital Wednesday, Iraqis balanced their hopes against fears about how U.S. policy will change on the ground in the wake of the Democrats' overwhelming victory in congressional elections and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's sudden resignation.

Rasha Tariq, 23, a college student, said she found herself near tears when she awoke Wednesday morning to the news that the Democrats had won the House and were on the cusp of taking the Senate.



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Tariq said she worries the Democrats' victory will mark the beginning of a gradual U.S. pullout from Iraq and the disintegration of what little order is left on the dangerous streets of Baghdad.

"If it was up to the Democrats, we would still be living under Saddam's tyranny," Tariq said in an interview Wednesday in the Sadoun Street shopping district. "I'm afraid that this change is going to affect the American presence in Iraq. I don't want them to leave."

While understanding that U.S. involvement in Iraq will not be altered overnight, both politicians and pedestrians in Baghdad said Wednesday that they were sure the U.S. has reached a turning point in the war.

Early Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad met with Iraqi politicians and journalists to reassure them that the U.S. remains committed to helping Iraq succeed. He told the group, which gathered inside the Green Zone, that American policy in Iraq would not radically change as a result of the Democrats' victory.

Several hours later, President Bush announced that he had accepted the resignation of the chief architect of what has become an unpopular war stateside.

Ali Dabbagh, the Iraqi government spokesman who attended the meeting with Khalilzad, said that he was "shocked" to hear of Rumsfeld's resignation. But ultimately, Dabbagh said, the Iraqi government sees the issue as an American matter.

"Whether it is Republicans or Democrats, Secretary Rumsfeld or someone else, we have received the assurances that the U.S. government will continue to work with Iraq for our countries' common goals," Dabbagh said.

Sadiq al-Musawi, a political analyst with the independent Iraqi Media Center, said Iraqis have been aware of the growing discontent among Americans over the daily bloodshed in Iraq.

He said the Democrats could distract the Bush administration from completing its task in Iraq by hampering it with investigations into the handling of the war, or it could force the administration to make tough but necessary alterations in its Iraq policy, al-Musawi said.

He is hopeful that the Democrats will take the latter route and force the Bush administration into bilateral talks with Syria and Iran about security. That is something the administration has been reluctant to do, even though some say it is crucial in cutting off the insurgency's financing and weapons supply.

Mixed opinions of election

Khalilzad acknowledged Wednesday that the daily bloodshed in Iraq has shaken Americans. But he emphasized to the Iraqis that Bush sees Iraq's success as important to U.S. interests.

"The president is the architect of U.S. foreign policy," Khalilzad said. "He is the commander in chief of our armed forces. He understands what is at stake in Iraq. He sees success as an imperative for America's national interest. He is committed to working with both houses of the American Congress to get support needed for the mission in Iraq to succeed."

In a smattering of interviews in central Baghdad on Wednesday, Iraqis expressed mixed opinions over the Democrats' victories.

Jassim Saed, who owns a small novelty shop on bustling Sadoun Street, said he listened closely to the rhetoric from the Democratic and Republican candidates through campaign coverage on Arabic-language satellite television.

He said the Democrats echoed many Iraqis' frustration with how the U.S. planners of the war have operated on the ground. But Saed believes the Democrats have yet to articulate what should be done differently to improve the situation for Iraqis.

"The new Congress has to show something new in their policy," Saed said. "They need to tell Iraqi people that they care and they are serious in finding a solution for the situation here."

Dr. Sami Ismael, 58, said he hopes the Democrats' victory will push the Republicans to make necessary changes in tactics.

With the national police infiltrated by militia and the Iraqi army having often proved itself ineffective, many Iraqis have grown to see the U.S. troops as the only forces they trust. Last month, Gen. George Casey, the top commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said increasing the number of troops on the ground remains an option.

"Whatever they do, it can't get any worse," Ismael said.

Rumsfeld divides Iraqis

Mohammed Dayini, a spokesman for the Sunni National Dialogue Council, said he wished Rumsfeld had resigned earlier.

In many Iraqi circles, Rumsfeld was a divisive figure, the personification of U.S. missteps in the 3 1/2-year-old war. Many agree with critics in Washington who say Rumsfeld's greatest misstep in the war was ignoring Gen. Eric Shinseki's estimate that hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops would be needed for the postinvasion U.S. occupation of Iraq.

"He is the one responsible for the criminal acts at Abu Ghraib and the thousands of innocent Iraqis who have died at the hands of the U.S.," Dayini said.

Al-Musawi was more charitable in his analysis of how Iraqi history will remember Rumsfeld.

"He will be recalled as the man who designed the war that brought down the dictator Saddam Hussein," al-Musawi said. "He will also be remembered as the man who made many miscalculations that caused much suffering for the Iraqi people."