So about those hearts and minds… how is that going again?

Forty-five percent of Iraqis believe attacks on U.S. and British troops are justified, according to a secret poll said to have been commissioned by British defense leaders and cited by The Sunday Telegraph.

Less than 1 percent of those polled believed that the forces were responsible for any improvement in security, according to poll figures.

Eighty-two percent of those polled said they were “strongly opposed” to the presence of the troops.

The paper said the poll, conducted in August by an Iraqi university research team, was commissioned by the Ministry of Defense.

And yet this is what we hear today from a leading Democrat…
This is the plan the Democrats are running with… kinda, maybe oppose, but don’t really, might have something of a plan, but who really knows afterall… what do you want us to be baby?

Carl Levin, a leading congressional Democrat, said today that the United States’ continued military presence in Iraq should be linked to greater political unity among the country’s deeply divided Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

The Michigan senator, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a frequent visitor to Iraq, said that one of the few points all three main Iraqi ethnic and sectarian groups agree on is that each wants American forces to remain. The administration should use that reality as leverage to force political compromise, Levin said.

“I believe we should tell the Iraqis that if they fail to reach such a solution by the timeline they have set forth, we will consider a timetable for the reduction of U.S. forces,” he told a breakfast at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. “I use the word ‘consider’ because we must reserve the right to look at the facts as they exist at that time.”

….

While Levin criticized President Bush for extending what he called an “open, unlimited, unconditional commitment” to the Iraqis, his comments stopped well short of demanding an immediate, complete pullout as advocated by some antiwar groups. As such, it was viewed by some analysts as an attempt by the Democrats to stake out a middle ground on the Iraq issue — be opposed to the administration, yet put distance from the peace movement and individuals such as activist Cindy Sheehan.

Just what exactly is the plan though guys? Really, it’s about time you came up with one… because it seems your analysts and experts aren’t helping you much. Almost 2000 American soldiers dead. Thousands wounded. Almost 50% of Iraqi’s agreeing that it is open season on US or UK troops… ummm… isn’t this a good opportunity to show the country that you guys have a handle on this whole “governance” thing? Besides trying to move 5 inches away from whatever Bush’s position is?

And if there is further doubt that things are not in anyone’s control and completely FUBAR…

Within minutes, four American contractors, all employees of the Halliburton subsidiary Kellog, Brown & Root, were dead. The jubilant crowd dragged their corpses through the street, chanting anti-US slogans. An investigation has been launched into why the contractors were not better protected.

Perhaps fearful of public reaction in America, where support for the war is falling, US officials suppressed details of the Sept 20 attack, which bore a striking resemblance to the murder of four other contractors in Fallujah last year.

I don’t know about you, but I think a little bit more planning is needed before we hang our hat on the threat that “maybe” after 2 years we’ll leave if the Iraqi’s don’t get their acts together…

Cross posted @ Jaded Reality