"Where is the freedom they promised?" he asks. "All the bloodshed, the sabotage, the killings. Who is paying the price? We, the Iraqi civilians."

But asked whether U.S. forces should pull out immediately, he responds: Absolutely not.

"There will be genocide here if they leave right now," Ramah answers. "They destroyed this country, and it is their responsibility to make it stand again…. Iraq is like a sick old woman who needs America to treat her right now."

Iraq is struggling with a guerrilla war, a stagnant economy and widespread despair. Many of its people are ambivalent about the continuing U.S. presence. Among the great majority of Iraqis who applauded the downfall of Saddam Hussein, there is deep resentment of what they view as Washington's myriad missteps. Chief among them is disbanding the military and police forces, a step they blame for today's rampant lack of security. Iraqis consistently identify lawlessness and violence as their country's gravest problems.

Polls show increasing anti-U.S. sentiment and a growing sense that American forces should get out and leave things to the Iraqis.

Despite such complaints, many Iraqis hesitate to endorse an immediate U.S. pullout, before some semblance of an effective Iraqi national security apparatus is in place. Some of those angriest about perceived U.S. missteps are the ones most adamant that U.S. forces stick around and try and patch things up, or at least assist in elections scheduled for early next year.

Arf (Not to worry - the US will stick around. And around. And around. As long as oil pumps, the US will be there.)