CHAPTER 3 IN WHICH WE IDENTIFY THE EEYORES AND READ SOME EYE OPENING POLLS

" 'Good Morning, Pooh Bear,' said Eeyore gloomily. 'If it is a good morning . . . Which I doubt.' "

I thought of Eeyore the other day. I had just read the papers and listened to a room of in-the-know folks wail and rend their garments about all matters Iraq.

Iraq's in "chaos"! Our soldiers are dying! Iraqi oil isn't paying for Iraq's reconstruction! The war's costing us more than President Bush said it would! Americans are losing patience with Bush's war! And where, by the way, are all those weapons of mass destruction?

Eeyore, of course, is the A.A. Milne character who lives at The House at Pooh Corner, 100 Aker Wood Southeast, Eeyore's Gloomy Place. He's always depressed. His favorite food is thistles. Oh, and he's a gray donkey stuffed with sawdust.

My guess is he gets his news largely from The New York Times and National Public Radio.

Now I can become as down-in-the-dumps as the next depressive about the state of the world, and I grieve the loss of every U.S. warrior in Iraq who's died, before or after the end of major combat operations. As for Iraq's postwar reconstruction, we all knew this would be long, difficult work -- Bush said precisely this when he spoke on the aircraft carrier -- and I share Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's general world view: "It takes too long for anything to happen, as far as I'm concerned."

But our Eeyores in the media and Democratic Party bore in exclusively on the negative. They hype each new bit of bad news and ignore or downplay the daily nation-changing good news across Iraq. The limited but tragic American casualties are never put in any context. An adult sense of proportion is missing. Never mind that these folks are most often the same people who opposed the war and were predicting "quagmire" right up to Baghdad's fall. As Eeyore says, "A mostly sunny day, to some, can look a lot like partly gray."

Sometimes, when I need a break from Eeyore's Gloomy Place, I go to PollingReport.com. I logged on there last February, when journalists were telling us everyday Americans were rising up against a war with Iraq. (They weren't.) And I went there recently for a reality check.

Are Americans suffering buyer's remorse over military action against Saddam Hussein's regime? Sixty-four percent told Newsweek pollsters (Sept. 11-12) that we had done the right thing. Do Americans support or oppose the current U.S. presence in Iraq? An ABC News poll (Sept. 4-7) found 67 percent of the public backed the current U.S. military presence, 30 percent were opposed. What kind of job has the United States done since major fighting ended? In a Time/CNN Poll (Sept. 3-4) 71 percent of those surveyed think we've done a good job; 26 percent think we've done a poor job.

Begin to see how the Eeyore's appear to write the headlines?

Previously we had an excerpt here from a recent poll taken in Iraq. However a friend provided me with a WSJ story that discusses the poll in some detail.

I can't link to the original subscription site, but I've created a pseudo-link here You really want to read the whole thing...but in part, here what it has to say.

Iraqis are optimistic. Seven out of 10 say they expect their country and their personal lives will be better five years from now....

Asked to name one country they would most like Iraq to model its new government on from five possibilities -- neighboring, Baathist Syria; neighbor and Islamic monarchy Saudi Arabia; neighbor and Islamist republic Iran; Arab lodestar Egypt; or the U.S. -- the most popular model by far was the U.S...

Our interviewers inquired whether Iraq should have an Islamic government, or instead let all people practice their own religion. Only 33% want an Islamic government; a solid 60% say no. A vital detail: Shiites (whom Western reporters frequently portray as self-flagellating maniacs) are least receptive to the idea of an Islamic government, saying no by 66% to 27%...

You can also cross out "Osama II": 57% of Iraqis with an opinion have an unfavorable view of Osama bin Laden, with 41% of those saying it is a very unfavorable view. (Women are especially down on him.)...

And you can write off the possibility of a Baath revival. We asked "Should Baath Party leaders who committed crimes in the past be punished, or should past actions be put behind us?" A thoroughly unforgiving Iraqi public stated by 74% to 18% that Saddam's henchmen should be punished.