Opposition to the moral catastrophe known as the Iraq war is increasing as its deadly consequences become more evident.

A recent Zogby poll (Zogby.com) of American troops stationed in Iraq found that 72 percent think the United States should withdraw from Iraq by the end of this year at latest, while almost 29 percent think the United States should leave immediately.

This large majority of American soldiers is in agreement with the 82 percent of Iraqis who are "strongly opposed" to the presence of foreign troops, according to a British military poll conducted in August and reported by the Sunday Telegraph in October.

These sentiments differ markedly from those of the Bush administration, which is using its military power to continue the occupation indefinitely. Members of the administration tell us that withdrawing now would grant victory to the terrorists, making America look weak. They make no mention of the fact that these terrorists were created and encouraged by the very war the administration started. Nor do they mention that the original rationale for war — Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction and Iraq's links to terrorists — has been demonstrated to be utterly fallacious, not to mention consciously deceptive.

Going along with the Bush administration in this instance requires ignoring our own troops as well as Iraqis themselves. If we trust the good intentions of our leaders, then we must reject the vast majority of Iraqi civilians and American soldiers as irrelevant and ignorant. We must believe that our government knows better than the people who suffer most from the violence, who witness the destruction and death first hand. So whom should we trust, our soldiers and Iraqi civilians or the Bush administration?

We have two choices: we can side with 72 percent of American troops and 82 percent of Iraqis by ending the war, or we can satisfy the Bush administration's wishes by prolonging the death and suffering. Which of these two sides deserves our support is a matter of personal decision, but a simple question can be asked of those who side with the war-makers: if the goal of the American occupation is to bring peace, democracy and all manner of good things to Iraqis, then why do 82 percent of them oppose it? To claim that we know better than Iraqis themselves what is good for them requires an ascent to levels of arrogance that not even the Bush administration has yet managed, at least publicly.

I prefer to make the radical assumption that ordinary civilians and soldiers with first-hand knowledge are more trustworthy and competent than powerful elites who murder thousands of innocents by proxy.

Those of us who choose to respect the will of Iraqis and our own troops may be interested in demonstrating against the war. There will be a rally to mark the war's third anniversary on March 18 at noon at the orange sunburst sculpture at the far east end of Wisconsin Avenue. The rally will be followed by a march to the federal courthouse.