As final hours are coming for the Americans to decide who will be the next president, Iraqis said no matter whom the next U.S. president would be, they want the United States to pull out its troops and they want peace.
Abu Abbas, 39, a stall vendor who sells vegetables in Baghdad mixed neighbourhood of Mansour, said "It doesn't matter whoever the U.S. president would be, what we need is peace and security; we had enough of killings and sectarian strife; we want to live in peace."
After more than five years of occupation, Iraq and the United States are still at odds over security agreement, which the United Stats needs as a legitimate support for the station of its troops beyond 2008 after the current UN mandate ends on Dec. 31.
"Whoever the U.S. president would be, we want him to know that we don't want their troops here; we have enough from troubles and bloodshed," Abbas said.
Sami Ibrahim, 45, a government employee, said he prefers Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama since he pitched his stances against President George W. Bush's policies, notably in the war on Iraq.
The president hopeful has said he intends to get the American soldiers home within 16 months after carrying the post of commander in chief.
Ibrahim expressed his hope that Obama would soon pull out U.S. troops from Iraq, saying "Get out of Iraq and leave us alone and we will solve our problems."
He also expressed wishes that "America, the great power state, should have a sort of partnership with the world countries, not polarity or leadership relation."
While Abdullah Mahmoud, 58, a lawyer, said that he would like Republican candidate John McCain to win the race because the Republican started their long road of blood and pain, although they promised better future for Iraq.
"They (Republicans) showed us the first part and now they have to finish what they have started," he said sarcastically.
Though McCain is distancing himself from the unpopular Bush in a range of issues, the stance on the occupation of Iraq is one of the few notions he publicly shares with the outgoing president. Both McCain, the Vietnam War veteran, and outgoing Bush oppose a swift drawdown of troops in Iraq, saying a fixed timetable is very likely to put the security gain at risk.
An Iraqi English teacher, Firas Hussein, 42, said "I am not familiar with the U.S. foreign policy, but I believe that neither Obama nor McCain would make a difference because their country 's general strategy is firm and is never affected by the changing of president."