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

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (138654)	7/2/2004 4:07:43 PM
From: Win Smith	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Anti-U.S. sentiment rises, Iraq poll finds seattletimes.nwsource.com [ Yes, they are being polled. This is the most recent reference a quick search turned up, but it seems pretty consistent with the trend as far as I can remember it. Things are going really, really well in Iraq, I understand. ] By JOHN SOLOMON The Associated Press WASHINGTON - A poll of Iraqis commissioned by the U.S.-backed government has provided the Bush administration a stark picture of anti-American sentiment — more than half of Iraqis believe they would be safer if U.S. troops simply left. The poll, commissioned by the Coalition Provisional Government last month but not released to the American public, also found radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is surging in popularity, 92 percent of Iraqis consider the United States an occupying force and more than half believe all Americans behave like those portrayed in the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse photos. The Associated Press obtained a copy of a multimedia presentation about the poll that was shown to U.S. officials involved in developing Iraq policy. The poll found 63 percent of Iraqis believed conditions will improve when an Iraqi interim government takes over June 30, and 62 percent believed it was "very likely" the Iraqi police and army will maintain security without U.S. forces. The poll results conflict with the generally upbeat assessments the administration continues to give Americans. Just last week, President Bush predicted future generations of Iraqis "will come to America and say, thank goodness America stood the line and was strong and did not falter in the face of the violence of a few." The current generation seems eager for Americans to leave, the poll found. The coalition's confidence rating in May stood at 11 percent, down from 47 percent in November, while coalition forces had just 10 percent support. Nearly half of Iraqis said they felt unsafe in their neighborhoods. And 55 percent of Iraqis reported to the pollsters they would feel safer if U.S. troops immediately left, nearly double the 28 percent who felt that way in January. The coalition's Iraq polling of 1,093 adults selected randomly in six cities — Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Diwaniyah, Hillah and Baquba — was taken May 14-23 and had a margin of potential sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Crucial details on the methodology of the coalition's polling were not provided.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (138654)	7/2/2004 10:18:56 PM
From: Sam	Respond to of 281500

The feelings of Iraqis are being polled, Sam, and they are no longer subject to arrest for giving the wrong answers. Nadine, all polls are suspicious, anywhere, anytime. No one poll, two polls, even three polls mean much in isolation. The only reason the recent CPA poll is slightly more significant and credible than others is that it appears to disagree with the views of the people who ordered the poll. But the real poll in Iraq, the poll that will mean something, will be how Iraqis support the current govt. They may or may not be subject to arrest for giving the wrong answers now, but they may be subject to being killed. That is the real issue still.