Obama speech: In a Baghdad barbershop, Obama's words met with skepticism - Los Angeles Times

Obama speech: In a Baghdad barbershop, Obama's words met with skepticism - Los Angeles Times

I guess that people over in Iraq are not so happy with Obama's cut and run approach. But no one is reporting that well. They really don't believe Obama and all he has done so far is upset our allies. His plans are failing dismally, but the MSM won't say that.

Reporting from Baghdad -- As President Obama spoke, Baghdad barber Raymun Butrus trimmed the eyebrows and clipped the hair of customers whose feelings about America and its relationship with Islam varied widely. They listened to the president's words between the clicking of scissors and the helicopter-like buzz of the generator that kept the shop lit. Most said they had made up their mind about the speech beforehand.

Customer Atheer Dabagh, a welder with dirt-smudged hands, sat in the brown barber's chair, puffing on a cigarette. "The left shoe is the same as the right shoe," he said, referring to Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush. "This is media propaganda. America's real intention is to destroy Muslims and Islam."

Dabagh was looking for an apology from Obama for America's actions in Iraq, though he added that he didn't want U.S. troops to leave until they had thrown out the current band of politicians they have helped empower since 2003. "If someone throws you in the sea, should they let you drown or should they bring you to shore?" he asked.

Between the snipping of his whiskers, Dabagh wondered: "Why did Obama leave Islam. I think he hates Islam."

Others had a kinder view. Ammar Ani, who strained to listen to Obama over the sound of a razor, welcomed Obama's overtures. "He wants to establish peace between Muslims and the West," Ani said.

The room, with its pleasant lemon and pink hues, had been scarred by war. Two street bombings and a mortar attack had damaged the shop since 2003. One client had been hit by shrapnel as he sat down for a haircut. As they watched Obama, Raymun noted a car had double-parked for about five minutes outside the shop. He worried aloud about the driver who glanced inside.

Ani called for the Americans to leave Iraq "sooner than later."

Raymun, resting between haircuts, scolded his customer. "If they leave now, the political parties will make problems," he said. "We hear things will get bad."

But Ani stood his ground.

"Maybe there will be fighting," he said. "But not like before."