Sep 12, 2007
Interesting Poll of Iraqi Opinion
I'm well aware of the limitations of opinion polls, and I'm sure that polls taken at the present time in Iraq should be evaluated particularly carefully. That said, the latest of four opinion polls commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, and NHK of Japan, in which some 2,112 Iraqis were questioned in more than 450 neighbourhoods across all the eighteen provinces of Iraq between August 17 and August 24, 2007, strikes me as a useful gauge of Iraqi opinion. Here are some of the key findings:
* Nearly half of Iraqis want an immediate withdrawal of U.S. and other coalition forces, and most of the rest want security restored first. (But is this even possible?)
* 57 percent (93 percent of Sunni Arabs, 50 percent of Shia Arabs, and 5 percent of Kurds) support attacks on coalition troops.
* Over 60 percent of Iraqis support a unified Iraq, with only Kurds supporting a federal or partitioned structure.
*Conditions of life are quite bad or very bad for most Iraqis in all areas and on all fronts.
* Nearly half of Iraqis want an immediate withdrawal of U.S. and other coalition forces, and most of the rest want security restored first. (But is this even possible?)
* 57 percent (93 percent of Sunni Arabs, 50 percent of Shia Arabs, and 5 percent of Kurds) support attacks on coalition troops.
* Over 60 percent of Iraqis support a unified Iraq, with only Kurds supporting a federal or partitioned structure.
*Conditions of life are quite bad or very bad for most Iraqis in all areas and on all fronts.