and let us not forget our OTHER crisis

September 5, 2005 Americans Regret Iraq War, Say Casualties Unacceptable (Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many adults in the United States continue to question their government’s rationale for launching military action in Iraq, according to a poll by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News. 53 per cent of respondents think the war was not worth fighting. The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 1,885 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 14,200 troops have been injured. 68 per cent of respondents believe the number of U.S. military casualties in Iraq is unacceptable. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi—regarded as al-Qaeda’s top commander in Iraq—has reportedly carried out several attacks and kidnappings. On Aug. 31, more than 900 people died in northeast Baghdad when a stampede erupted during a Shiite religious procession. Preliminary reports indicate that a rumour about the purported presence of a suicide bomber on a bridge led to the trampling and drowning deaths. On Aug. 24 in Idaho, U.S. president George W. Bush ruled out removing American soldiers from Iraq, declaring, "An immediate withdrawal of our troops in Iraq, or the broader Middle East, as some have called for, would only embolden the terrorists and create a staging ground to launch more attacks against America and free nations. So long as I’m the president, we will stay, we will fight, and we will win the war on terror." 50 per cent of respondents say the U.S. is not making significant progress toward restoring civil order in Iraq. Yesterday, Shiite National Assembly member Jalal al-Deen al-Sagheer questioned Arab states for failing to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation in Iraq, saying, "Why is it that the Iraqi people are getting killed everyday but none of these countries says a word. Why would Spain and other countries send us their condolences while these so called Arab countries did not even say a word?"..........