Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (31460)	11/13/2003 8:07:29 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

CIA Report Says U.S. Losing Popular Support in Iraq Wed Nov 12, 5:04 PM ET By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A CIA (news - web sites) report concludes that ordinary Iraqis increasingly are siding with the insurgency amid doubts about the U.S. ability to stamp it out, officials said on Wednesday, while the U.S. administrator in Iraq (news - web sites) said it was hard to figure out where the Iraqi public stands. Word of the report came as President Bush (news - web sites)'s national security team held urgent meetings at the White House with Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, aimed at accelerating the transfer of power to Iraqis. The CIA's classified field assessment concluded that many Iraqis are losing faith in American efforts in Iraq amid the U.S. failure to crush an increasingly bold resistance, said U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. The report, warning of possible failure for Bush's efforts to establish Iraq as a democracy if the situation is not fixed, said aggressive U.S. counter-insurgency measures were leaving many Iraqis disillusioned and pushing them to support the insurgency, one U.S. official said. Amid continuing violence, at least 17 Italians and nine Iraqis died on Wednesday when a suicide bomber wrecked an Italian military base in the town of Nassiriya, while in Baghdad, U.S. forces killed two people in a counter-insurgency strike called "Operation Iron Hammer." The report, disclosed earlier by the Philadelphia Inquirer, noted that no member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council nor any other Iraqi politician had shown an ability to lead the nation following the U.S.-led invasion in March that chased President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) from power, the official said. But the official refused to fault Iraqi politicians for keeping a low profile amid a mounting insurgency. "If they've got the smarts to be the future leader of the country, then they've got the smarts not to paint themselves as a target (for assassination), and to see how real is this American commitment to Iraq," the official said. IRAQI DISILLUSIONMENT Asked about Iraqi disillusionment toward the U.S. presence, Bremer told reporters, "I think the situation with the Iraqi public is, frankly, not easy to quantify." "We've looked at polls. We've talked to people. We make our own assessments," Bremer said at the White House after meeting with Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others. "Obviously, the terrorists are trying to encourage the Iraqi people to believe that the United States is not going to stay the course." Bremer said, "I don't think that that's going to work. I don't think the Iraqis are going to be intimidated. We're certainly not going to be intimidated." Bremer expressed confidence that as U.S. forces "prosecute this low-intensity conflict" and as American authorities give Iraqis political responsibilities "we'll find that the Iraqi people support that." "We are in a war of perceptions," added a senior defense official, saying the insurgency hopes to influence public opinion in Iraq, America and other countries with troops in Iraq, "Militarily, this resistance cannot match the U.S. forces. But if they can attack the will of the people and if they can pose the question of why we are involved, that's what they will seek to do." Another defense official said some tactics used by the U.S. military -- such as aggressive raids aimed at weeding out insurgents -- may be counter-productive. "There's a difference between how many hearts and souls you're going to win or supporters you're going to get by kicking in doors as opposed to knocking on the doors and asking for cooperation," the official said.