When even MSNBC can’t find an Iraqi citizen who wants us to leave, you know it’s bad…

Obama has announced that he will begin a “responsible and gradual” withdrawal of troops from Iraq over the next 18 months, dropping the number of in country troops from 142,000 down to 50,000. MSNBC interviewed Iraqi citizens for their response to the news, and here’s what they found:

“Terrorists are just waiting for the Americans to leave the country in order to turn things upside down,” said Ibrahim Salman, 55, a Baghdad municipality official. “I am against a hasty evacuation of U.S. troops from Iraq because security is not completely achieved throughout Iraq,” Salman said. “The Iraqi police force and army still need more training, experience, intelligence gathering and sophisticated military equipment.”

A barber in his late forties, Sa’ad Yassin, echoed this sentiment: “Of course, nobody likes his country to be occupied, but I want joint Iraqi and American forces to get rid of the terrorists, criminals, gangs and sleeper cells who are waiting to jump and control the land and people,” Yassin said.

Adel Abdul-Jabbar, a technician in Baghdad, fears there will be a bloodbath after U.S. forces leave. “Pulling their forces and leaving Iraq to be devoured by Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey? Oh! No!” he said. “No, I am sure al-Qaida and militias will destroy Iraq and Iraqis will be swimming in blood pools.”

For more information on our Iraqi operation’s success thus far, see my earlier post “Let Them Finish the Job” – which is exactly what the Iraqi people are begging for now.