BTW no one has answered the question of the article. Is this person a liar? At least I didn' notice anyone answer it.

For his comment quoted here, or now?

DJB -

You have a point.

So... No.

Cheers,
Daiwa

To answer the original question......No, he's not a liar.

How can you possibly consider this a lie, kb? First of all, it is plainly stated as a belief, not a fact, distorted or otherwise.

please notice the unusual way it's worded. 'i think' (opinion) 'things have gotten so bad inside iraq from the standpoint of the iraqi people' (do i really have to expend the effort here?) 'my belief' (i didn't miss the 'belief' part ) 'is we will, in fact, '(oh oh...he used the f word) 'be greeted as liberators.'

he was clearly making an effort to appear as knowledgable and persuasive as possible without going over the line...but he failed. greeted as liberators??? you're right bout the msm not giving that part any exposure. not to discredit the president is my guess; much more likely the welcome wagon went the wrong pad.

i might be willing to ease up and qualify that statement as being borderline less than candid, but then i'd be lying too.

kb -

Interesting to see you have to tie yourself into a pretzel to justify your point. Sheesh.

The overwhelming majority of Iraqis consider themselves liberated in some sense of the word, but they have no voice in the media which has no interest in that story. The scales of reporting are so heavily skewed - 95% of the reporting is about 5% of the story and I for one resent that.

Cheers,
Daiwa

The overwhelming majority of Iraqis consider themselves liberated in some sense of the word, but they have no voice in the media which has no interest in that story.

after more than 10 years of being unable to read for all practical purposes--actually unable to read anything not absolutely necessary--i seem to have finally worked my way to the other side. so it's possible what i'm about to describe isn't really as recent a development as it appears to me, but for the past 4-5 months, i've noticed considerably more coverage of the iraqi street. lots of full- or multi-page pieces focusing on a wide spectrum of people from all over the country.

i've yet to come across one which seemed contrived or felt anything but legit. prolly cuz none of them has been presented in an unduly positive or negative way. whether the focus is on sunni, shiite or kurd, the individuals and families portrayed in each story share something with all the others: none of them seem to consider themselves ahead of the game. none really expects or believes things will improve soon or by very much. sadly for us all--and quite unsettling--liberated from saddam doesn't seem to be as important to them as it would us.

having said all that, from whom or what enterprise are you getting that overhelming majority opinion?

but he failed. greeted as liberators???

As much as I value your opinion on some things kingbee, I think I respect this man's more: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007289

having said all that, from whom or what enterprise are you getting that overhelming majority opinion?

Same place as my previous comment. Along with Other Sources.

As much as I value your opinion on some things kingbee, I think I respect this man's more

The author is only a Kurd and an elected official. He is no Sunni Arab and no dictator. You KNOW what his word is worth among the left.

Seriously, this is a problem.

The left have, apparently, a very strict discipline when it comes to trustworthyness.

In general they only believe mass murderers. When in doubt, they prefer certain ethnic groups' words over others.

When in doubt, they prefer certain ethnic groups' words over others.

Sounds kind of racist if you ask me.  Like when people start calling a black an Uncle tom when they do not agree with his politics.

I think I respect this man's more

i've no doubt the overwhelming majority of president talabani considers himself liberated. very likely the overwhelming majority of kurds may well share his sentiment.

neither he--nor they--speak for the overwhelming majority of iraqis or, for that matter, even a consensus of iragis.

by proposing he does so, you've invalidated any claim you had to understanding what's going on in iraq--just as did the warhawks. while talabani may not be as duplicitious and self-serving as chalabi, he surely has his own agenda. you just admitted you're conpletely invested in it.

The author is only a Kurd and an elected official. He is no Sunni Arab and no dictator. You KNOW what his word is worth among the left.

you continue to prove yourself so blind to reason or common sense. of course, he's a kurd and an elected offcial. that's exactly why his opinions are NOT those of the unelected overwhelming majority of non-kurdish iraqis.

claiming otherwise is the equivalent of suggesting your personal opinions represent the overwhelming majority of any group except one--very opinionated and intractable german expatriates living in ireland who's convinced himself he's infallible.

When in doubt, they prefer certain ethnic groups' words over others.

when discussing the opinions of the 'overwhelming' majority of iraqis, one will naturally focus on that group's opinon rather than a minority group. if the topic were 'overwhelming majority of kurdish iraqis' it would be a different story.

exactly the kinda sloppy ideologue thinking described in the previous comment.

i've no doubt the overwhelming majority of president talabani considers himself liberated.

What does that mean?

very likely the overwhelming majority of kurds may well share his sentiment.

Yes.

neither he--nor they--speak for the overwhelming majority of iraqis or, for that matter, even a consensus of iragis.

Actually, he does. That's why he is the elected president. The (elected) national assembly made him president because they felt that he could speak for them. That's what a democracy does.

by proposing he does so, you've invalidated any claim you had to understanding what's going on in iraq--just as did the warhawks.

I guess that statement is consistent with the left's understand of democracy.

while talabani may not be as duplicitious and self-serving as chalabi, he surely has his own agenda. you just admitted you're conpletely invested in it.

Yes, he has his agenda. But in contrast to you Iraqis did believe that his agenda and their views are consistent.

You really have trouble understanding that Iraq is now democratic, haven't you? It will take the left forever to accept any elected official from Iraq as a legitimate representative of the Iraqi people, won't it?

But when the Ba'athists said that Iraqis didn't want the invasion, that was good enough for the left, wasn't it? The left believed that the dictator spoke for the Iraqi people but the left do not believe that their elected president speaks for the Iraqi people.

Typical.