April 28, 2004
Iraqi poll about America
Straight from the horse’s mouth: a poll asking Iraqi people how they feel about the war. The results indicate the Iraqi people are “conflicted”, to say the least. Some highlights:
- Nearly half (46%) said the war has done more harm than good, and 71% see the troops as occupiers, but 61% believe the ouster of Saddam was worth it
- Iraqis are split almost evenly when asked if attacks against US forces are justified. Ninety-one per cent said attacks against Iraqi police are not justified.
- Fifty-seven per cent want US and UK forces to leave immediately, but 53% would feel less safe if that happened.
- Slightly more than half (51%) said their families were better off.
Some of these results seem contradictory, but then polls aren't always accurate indicators.
Posted by Vivek at April 28, 2004 08:46 PMInteresting.
I wouldn’t call it good news, but it’s not bad news either.
Posted by: dave at April 28, 2004 08:59 PMThe key here is being able to keep things this way, and to leave a government that has enough strength to keep this society together. If we fail to do that, Iraqi’s minds will change and not in our favor.
Posted by: Stephen Daugherty at April 28, 2004 09:01 PMI think it shows just how important the next few months are to making this work. And we must make it work.
Posted by: George at April 29, 2004 09:01 AMI wonder if these results will change with the news about americans in iraq breaking the terms of the geneva convention and mistreating iraqi prisoners of war? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/27/60II/main614063.shtml
Posted by: Jarin at April 29, 2004 09:46 AMI really don’t give much credence to polls in Iraq. These pollsters know nothing about Iraq, the infrastructure for polling Iraqis barely exists, the political climate in Iraq is wildly fluid, the culture itself has been cowed into politicial silence for decades, and there is a freaking war going on out in the streets throughout the country.
I wouldn’t recommend using polls of Iraqis for supporting a political argument either way.
Remember, even if 99% of Iraqis say they love America, it only takes a motivated handful to make that love entirely unexpressible and our task there immensely more difficult. And even if 99% of Iraqis say they hate America, it wouldn’t mean that our moral responsibility to help the country - and our military’s ability to control things if necessary - wouldn’t be as urgent.
No matter what the case, our goal is clear: We have to get out of there and leave something stable and truly independent behind.
Maybe someday the polls will be more believeable, but for now I am unconvinced.
-Cf
It is also important to remember that this poll included Kurds. While this does not seem like a big deal, they are hardly in the same predicament that the rest of the Iraqi civilians are in.
Posted by: Adam at April 30, 2004 01:00 AM
