Do Americans Actually Care About The Iraqi People?

To tell you the truth, I don't think Americans don't "care" about the Iraqis. I think many are just so overwhelmed by this nightmare scenario, where we HAVE TO stay there, or there may be civil war.

I also think many Americans just hate this war so much, and all they see is "Those damn Arabs killing Americans". That they misdirect it and feel like the whole Iraqi population hates them.

Most Americans I think want to help the Iraqi people, but it is becoming so disheartening, and so much money is being spent, that people just throw their arms up and say who cares, bring the troops home.

I can only speak for Myself. I care. I care a lot. When I see the suffering that these people go through I get sick. I cry for the children who are orphaned. I cry for the mothers who are left childless. I cry for all of them. These people are stuck in a God awful war zone that We are responsible for. I care and I make sure My children care. I show them the faces of war. By luck or by chance, the roles could have been reversed.
I have to care. We all have to care, don't You get it? If we don't care and we teach Our children not to care then as a whole we are doomed. I can't do much to change the world, but I can teach My children to teach Their children....

To answer your question, NO, in my opinion the average American has little if any regard for the average Iraqi.

I beg to differ,
The average American values life, loves God, and doesn't kill.
Most average Americans are saddened at the death of any people, I'm sure if you chose any average American and said to him "It's your call, keep killing Iraquis or end it all and pull out." Your average American would say "Let's get outta here.".
People are basically good, some are extreme in the other direction but most people wouldn't want to see anyone die.
If most Americans didn't give a rats ass about Iraquis the consensus would be "Hell no, let's stay there and waste some lead."
That's not the way it is.......

The better question is whether or not the Iraqi people care for the Iraqi people. Many of them don't seem to care for their own lives or the lives of others.

[edit on 11/8/06 by pugachev]

Demetre..

Thank you. That's all anyone can realistically ask, and it's the best most can give. And it shows that some are able to recognize the difference between "acknowledging" and truly "caring".

pugachev...ignorance? Do you have some experience in these matters that you haven't revealed, which allows you to speak for a significant portion of an obliterated country?



[edit on 8-11-2006 by Astygia]

I don't recall saying that I was speaking on behalf of anyone. I'm speaking about the tens of thousands of Iraqis murdering each other over petty differences. I think it's a valid question.

Without hijacking the thread too much, I could answer that you obviously have very little knowledge, less than me even, of middle-eastern culture, or the events going on there, to make a statement like that.

But the point is it's not even on-topic, if you want a thread about how the Iraqis all "hate each other" and so on, pick one and post there because you've been beaten to it about a million times.

[edit on 8-11-2006 by Astygia]

Originally posted by Beer_Guy

To answer your question, NO, in my opinion the average American has little if any regard for the average Iraqi.

I beg to differ,
The average American values life, loves God, and doesn't kill.

I think we can agree here.

Most average Americans are saddened at the death of any people, I'm sure if you chose any average American and said to him "It's your call, keep killing Iraquis or end it all and pull out." Your average American would say "Let's get outta here.".

I believe we can agree that the average American would want to leave now, but I think that is because of the toll in AMerican lives, not because they are concerned for the Iraqis. Just my opinion.

PS, thanks for being civil with me, and I like your name

I believe a majority of Americans cared enough about the Iraqis to commit to freeing their country from what we thought was a threatening dictator and to establish a democracy for the Iraqi people so that they could have better lives. What we got instead is a nightmare that many Americans and I'm believe most Iraqis would like to end. We've heard of many mistakes and many Americans definitely believe things are not going well.

I believe Americans care or we wouldn't have supported keeping troops there for this long even after we didn't find any WMD's. I believe most Americans would really like to see an end to the bloodshed and violence in Iraq. If there was no violence in Iraq and a peaceful democracy existed there, Americans would be pleased I believe as well as many Iraqis.

I believe both Americans and Iraqis both want peace in Iraq and Americans are not happy about the situation. I thought the original Allied plan was to have a strong stable and democratic Iraq become a shining example of how well democracy could work in the Middle East. There would be plenty of jobs and a peaceful and growing economy where everyone has water, electricity, etc. that we Americans take for granted. You could call Americans naive or too optimistic but we tried and are still trying to succeed.

Unfortunately, I believe others in nearby countries do not want a stable democracy in Iraq and are helping to increase the violence. I care but I don't know how to solve the problem and bring peace and security to Iraq.

Originally posted by orionthehunter
I believe a majority of Americans cared enough about the Iraqis to commit to freeing their country from what we thought was a threatening dictator and to establish a democracy for the Iraqi people

Thats not how they sold us this war. This is how they have spun the war, but thats not how they sold it to us.
It was sold to us as a 'direct threat WMD must stop him now scenario'.
They told us if we didnt attack there would be a mushroom cloud in an American city.
That was a lie.
We know it now, and so do the Iraqis.
Since then they have spun it as 'spreading democracy' which used to be called 'nation building' and is actually better described as imperialism IMO.

I think some americans care. I dont think we all do. how ever this war began, we have doen some good anyway., We have given them their country back.

The bad thing is that these people have been subjugated so long that they prefer it to democracy. Democracy is also somewhat of a foreign concept to middle easterners.

the major problem is that the Iraqis expect to sit back and let the fighting be done for them, same thing the south vietnamese expected. IF they will not take a stand and say "yes! we want our country back" then our work will be for nothing and that seems like a probable scenario.

take it from the source; the majority of americans (and other westerners, to a lesser extent) are selfish people.

I think the large majority of Americans care deeply about what happens to not only Iraqis but what is also happening in many parts of the world. We seem to be focused on Iraq because of the invasion and the sectarian violence that was long suppressed by Saddam Ba'athist regime but in relative terms the violence in Iraq pales in comparison to the destruction caused by the Dec 26 tsunami. More folks have probably been killed in Darfur in the past 2 years then Iraq and have suffered just as badly if not worse than the Iraqis.

How about all the deaths in sub-Saharan Africa from HIV infection and AIDS? Or the growth of the epidemic throughout Asia?

There's a great line from the movie Gettysburg spoken by Gen. Longstreet that I'll paraphrase:

Your pick your nightmare scenario and put your head down to the grindstone til it's finished.

That's how I feel about the global situation right now.

optimism is great, but sometimes optimisim is just ignorant.

if we truly cared, we would donate far more money than we have been to helping thos in third world countries. in my opinion, most americans are still angry with, or a prejudiced towards, middle eastern muslims.

i wouldnt go as far to saw we HATE them, but for us to purposefully not care about that specific group of people isnt so hard to believe.

Originally posted by ADVISOR
We only put our lives, on the line, as a sacrifice for their freedom and liberty by;
Getting them free elections...

That was not the stated aim of the invasion and has not helped the people in any way.

Getting them water when terrorists contaminated and destroyed their sources...

They actually had clean water with modern cleaning and pumping stations. we bombed most of it the first time around and destroyed the rest on the second pass.

Returned electicity when terrorists attacked their power supplies...

They had electricity until, like the water stations, we bombed the power stations/transformers.

Gave them medical supplies my the hunfreds of skids, while teaching them how to use and pack said supplies for their use, correctly...

Iraq had plenty of well equipped modern hospitals. Those not damaged too badly first time around were starved of supplies for years, and are still not receiving essential supplies to this day.

Allowed them to train along side our forces, for their benefit, so they could take back and keep their nation...

We needed Iraqis to take up some slack so we could start rotating units. Give the impression that we intend pulling troops out for the voters.

Why are they REALLY there? It's a ridiculous situation and Iraq should be left to its own devices. I personally believe the presence of US soldiers is constantly worsening the civil unrest, if not causing it!

As stated by Britguy, they’ve done nothing but bomb and cause pain and suffering. Of course many Americans do care, but the ones who actually have the power to make a difference couldn’t care less.

Unfortunately, most people are so wraped up in themselves, they don't have time to care for anyone else. I'm sure if they thought about it for a second or two, they'd say that they care. But most are too busy being the center of their own little world to care what really happens in the real world.

Each of us can only speak for ourselves...personally, I do care. I've put my money where my mouth is, I've donated money to relief efforts by a host of different organizations...not much I'll admit; I'm not Bill Gates, afterall .

The situation in Iraq, given half a chance, will sort itself out. The Iraqi's, I hope, will realize that no one, save themselves, can rebuild their country, and with a little help from their freinds it'll happen. If they are given half a chance. That's why we are there now. With our help, they can have the half a chance. Most Americans know this...so in the abstract, yes; the majority of Americans do indeed care.

I genuinely don't believe that those soldiers are there to help. Some of them may think they are, but the majority are serving a hidden agenda. Eventually it will be exposed.

[edit on 9/11/06 by thebox]

Originally posted by seagull
I've put my money where my mouth is, I've donated money to relief efforts by a host of different organizations...not much I'll admit;

I care about the Iraqis. I'm not there though, so I don't know personnally but it seems as if they HATE the U.S. and would prefer to go back to Sunni vs. Shiite massacre. Also, when I was in Somalia in 1992-93, I witness what happened with all of the "donated" relief efforts. It ended up in the warlord's hands. So, be mindful of what you donate and to whom you donate to. And, as someone else posted earlier, if the Iraqis don't possess the will to "take their country back", as soon as we leave it will be all for nothing. They will return to their accustomed ways of living in fear and sectarian violence. So we do need to stay and wait a time with patience. It can be fixed and the Americans will care more with a feeling of accomplishment, albeit at a cost.

[edit on 11/9/2006 by Ninja1]