Haven't you been listening to CB? Them Afghans ain't nothin' but a buncha lying bastards! Seriously, in a country ravaged by war and extreme persecution for the last 30 years, people will tell you whatever you want to hear. So answers to questions like "How would you rate the work of Hamid Karzai as President of Afghanistan" are highly suspect, as are questions about how you approve of Jihadis, Taliban, etc. So it is best to concentrate on answers about tangible issues or when criticism of government is not so obvious.
BTW, did you note that a key finding of the survey was that "Afghans feel somewhat more secure and much freer than they did under the Taliban. However, more say they have lost than gained economically since then"?
Here are some results from the same survey:
If you think about your family, would you say that today your family is more prosperous, less
prosperous, or about as prosperous as under the Taliban government?
More prosperous...............................................................................................................10%
Less prosperous.................................................................................................................37%
01 About as prosperous...................................................................................................42%
Absent during Taliban rule..................................................................................................9%
Don’t know .........................................................................................................................2%
Some people say, “I don’t think that the government cares much about what people like me think.”
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? WAIT FOR RESPONSE AND THEN ASK -
Strongly, or somewhat?
Agree strongly...................................................................................................................25% 58%
Agree somewhat................................................................................................................33%
Disagree somewhat .............................................................................................................9%
Disagree strongly ................................................................................................................2% 12%
Don’t know .......................................................................................................................30%
think it is possible in the coming elections. (READ ITEMS OUT, CODE EACH ONE THEY
SAY IS POSSIBLE, MULTIPLE RESPONSES ACCEPTED
Buying of votes .................................................................................................................60%
Cheating in the vote count.................................................................................................50%
Husbands not letting wives vote........................................................................................24%
Intimidation against voters or party activists.......................................................................8%
Finding out for whom people voted without their saying ...................................................6%
None of these possible ........................................................................................................5%
Don’t know/No response............................................................................(DO NOT READ)
..........................................................................................................................................17%
Interestingly, it is the regions that US is weakest (South and Northwest) that Afghans feel most secure.
Also, note that "Three provinces, Nimroz, Uruzgan and Ghor, were not reachable due to security concerns or inaccessibility". Imagine not being able to go to Main, Arizona, and Nevada due to security concerns. |
