Actually Paul I have done my own little research and come up with an interesting article regarding the polls apparently showing the results you state.
You see, there was indeed a poll that was quoted by Dick Cheney as showing that Iraqis did not want the US troops to leave in a year. Now, this was the first poll undertaken in Iraq, and it was done by Zogby International. You can find their site here
http://www.zogby.com/index.cfm. So far so good. This was indeed the poll quoted as saying the things you yourself say.
Anyway, what is interesting is that one of the directors of the polling company, James Zogby, has published his own response to Cheney's comments. And you know what? He felt so strongly about Cheney's comments that he titled the article "How the Poll Results on Iraq Were Manipulated"
. Thats right, the very man responsible for the poll has written here
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1022-12.htm about how Cheney misused the results. On the issue of wanting US troops to stay, for example:
"When given the choice as to whether they "would like to see the American and British forces leave Iraq in six months, one year, or two years," 31.5 percent of Iraqis say these forces should leave in six months; 34 percent say a year, and only 25 percent say two or more years.
So while technically Cheney might say that "over 60 percent (actually it's 59 percent) ... want the US to stay at least another year," an equally correct observation would be that 65.5 percent want the US and Britain to leave in one year or less.
Other numbers found in the poll go further to dampen the vice president's and the AEI's rosy interpretations. For example, when asked if "democracy can work well in Iraq," 51 percent said "no; it is a Western way of doing things and will not work here."
And attitudes toward the US were not positive. When asked whether over the next five years, they felt that the "US would help or hurt Iraq,"50 percent said that the US would hurt Iraq, while only 35.5 percent felt the US would help the country. On the other hand, 61 percent of Iraqis felt that Saudi Arabia would help Iraq in the next five years, as opposed to only 7.5 percent, who felt Saudi Arabia would hurt their country. Some 50. 5 percent felt that the United Nations would help Iraq, while 18.5 percent felt it would hurt. Iran's rating was very close to the US', with 53. 5 percent of Iraqis saying Iran would hurt them in the next five years, while only 21. 5 percent felt that Iran might help them.
It is disturbing that the AEI and the vice president could get it so wrong. Their misuse of the polling numbers to make the point that they wanted to make, resembles the way critics have noted that the administration used "intelligence data" to make their case to justify the war. " (taken from the article).
So basically, whoever you got your quote from, has not done his/her own research as to Cheney's comments.
So there you go.
(:/)
