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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bilow who wrote (117703)	10/25/2003 11:20:02 PM
From: quehubo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

<<It's quite possible that killing so many Iraqis (while the French killed none) have soured the survivors on us.>> I am not surprised that a society oppressed under such a brutal and dominate fascist regime as Saddam's has many people forming misinformed opinions. What surprises me is that people of means living in the free world think that supporters of the regime had no responsibility for Saddam's atrocities or the for the victims of the containment policy.

To: Bilow who wrote (117703)	10/25/2003 11:22:39 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Most Iraqis see US forces as occupiers - poll BAGHDAD, Oct. 25 — Most Iraqis regard the U.S.-led forces in their country as occupiers rather than liberators, with many more now taking that view than did so just after U.S. troops overthrew Saddam Hussein in April, according to a poll. The survey by Iraq's Centre For Research and Strategic Studies, a think tank set up by a group of Iraqi professors after Saddam's fall, also showed only a small portion of Iraqis felt safest in the presence of U.S. troops or local police. The poll results, released on Thursday, showed that 67 percent of Iraqis see the U.S.-led coalition forces as ''occupying powers.'' The figure is up from 46 percent in a survey conducted shortly after the war that ousted Saddam. Fifteen percent consider the coalition forces ''liberating forces,'' down from 43 percent six months ago. One in 10 sees them as peacekeepers, twice as many as in April. Asked what the best political system would be for Iraq, 33.7 percent wanted an ''Islamic theocracy'' while 23.7 said they backed ''Islamic democracy.'' Support for ''democracy'' was at 30.5 percent. The political terms were undefined. Among members of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council, the three with the highest approval ratings were Islamists from the Shi'ite branch of the Muslim religion practised by the majority of Iraqis. Topping the list at 57.7 percent was Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a top official of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. He is the brother of the Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, who was assassinated in August. Asked who could best provide security, 62.5 percent of Iraqis said family, relatives and neighbours and 12 percent replied Iraqi police. Joint patrols by police and coalition forces were seen as the best guarantor by 4.2 percent, neighbourhood patrols by 3.2 percent and coalition forces were last at three percent. Among other findings, 74 percent of those polled said they did not trust local newspapers and half did not trust Iraqi political parties. The poll of 1,620 Iraqis was conducted in seven cities from September 28 to October 10. The margin of error is three percent. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. famulus.msnbc.com