Iraqis Ask Obama for Peace

ZHANG: Iraqis are voicing their hopes and wishes for the U.S. president-elect. They hope Barack Obama will change U.S. policy in the Arab world and bring peace to the region. STORY: One man accused President Bush of adopting barbarism policy in Iraq and Arab countries. [Ali Jawad, Iraqi Citizen]: "What we hope from the new president of the U.S. is to change the strategy of America on the political and war levels; changing the roots of the U.S. policy as it is recently. In the time of president Bush, it deepened on barbarism, wars, which caused many deaths in the world and especially in the Arab countries." [Iraqi Citizen]: "We want Obama to adopt new policy, an open policy, leaving Iraqis and Arabs to live peacefully with no blood, no wars. In general to let the Arab world live in well-being. The Iraqi government is confident President-elect Barack Obama will not jeopardize Iraq's security improvements by hastily withdrawing U.S. troops. Obama opposed the U.S. war in Iraq from the beginning, and his promise to pull combat troops out of Iraq by mid-2010 was a cornerstone of his campaign. The Bush administration had long resisted deadlines for withdrawal, but is now working on a security pact that would set 2011 as an end date for the U.S. troop presence, a concession that moved U.S. policy closer to Obama's proposals. Washington and Baghdad are still negotiating how firm the deadline will be. The plan also envisions halting U.S. patrols of Iraqi streets by mid-2009. Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq, but U.S. generals and Iraqi leaders say Iraqi forces are not yet ready to assume full control. A hasty pullout could jeopardize gains.

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YouTube | November 8, 2008

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