I gotta give a big old terrorist fist bump to Sabrina Tavernise and Richard Oppel, who teamed up to interview eighteen people throughout Iraq and discovered that the Iraqis love them some Obama. Not only do all Iraqis love Obama (or, at least, “no one expressed a strong dislike”) but the Iraqis love them some occupation, too.
“Everyone in Iraq likes him,” said the general, Nassir al-Hiti. “I like him. He’s young. Very active. We would be very happy if he was elected president.”
But mention Mr. Obama’s plan for withdrawing American soldiers, and the general stiffens.
“Very difficult,” he said, shaking his head. “Any army would love to work without any help, but let me be honest: for now, we don’t have that ability.”
That’s the lede. Later on, there’s a little does of reality:
“Of course I want the American forces to leave Iraq,” said May Adnan Yunis, whose sister was killed, along with a female and a male co-worker, when they were gunned down by American soldiers while driving to work at Baghdad International Airport three weeks ago. “I want them to go to hell.”
After the killings, a statement by the American military describing the three employees as “criminals” who shot at the soldiers inflamed Iraqi officials even more. In a rare public rebuke of the American military, the Iraqi armed forces general command described the American soldiers’ actions as crimes “committed in cold blood.”
But we only hear the bad news, right?
