Thursday, April 29, 2004

You may have already seen the results of the new New York Times/CBS poll, which shows that there's a great deal of disillusionment in this country about the Iraq war (Times story here; CBS story here; complete results here in PDF form).

But have you seen today's other poll? According to CNN/USA Today/Gallup, Iraqis are running out of patience too. (Story here; full results here.)

Only a third of the Iraqi people now believe that the American-led occupation of their country is doing more good than harm, and a solid majority support an immediate military pullout even though they fear that could put them in greater danger, according to a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.

The nationwide survey, the most comprehensive look at Iraqi attitudes toward the occupation, was conducted in late March and early April. It reached nearly 3,500 Iraqis of every religious and ethnic group.

...while they acknowledge benefits from dumping Saddam a year ago, Iraqis no longer see the presence of the American-led military as a plus. Asked whether they view the U.S.-led coalition as "liberators" or "occupiers," 71% of all respondents say "occupiers."

... 53% say they would feel less secure without the coalition in Iraq, but 57% say the foreign troops should leave anyway. Those answers were given before the current showdowns in Fallujah and Najaf between U.S. troops and guerrilla fighters.


Iraqis think it was worth it to overthrow Saddam -- more so than Americans do now. But there's a strong (and scary) undercurrent of Iraqi resentment and restiveness:

The insurgents, by contrast, seem to be gaining broad acceptance, if not outright support. If the Kurds, who make up about 13% of the poll, are taken out of the equation, more than half of Iraqis say killing U.S. troops can be justified in at least some cases....

"I would shoot at the Americans right now if I had the chance," says Abbas Kadhum Muia, 24, who owns a bicycle shop in Sadr City, a Shiite slum of 2 million people in Baghdad that was strongly anti-Saddam and once friendly to the Americans.


Why?

Two-thirds say soldiers in the U.S.-led coalition make no attempt to keep ordinary Iraqis from being killed or wounded during exchanges of gunfire.

58% say the soldiers conduct themselves badly or very badly.

60% say the troops show disrespect for Iraqi people in searches of their homes, and 42% say U.S. forces have shown disrespect toward mosques.

46% say the soldiers show a lack of respect for Iraqi women.

Only 11% of Iraqis say coalition forces are trying hard to restore basic services such as electricity and clean drinking water.


(On that last question, note the percentages of Iraqis who report these problems in the last four weeks: no electricity, 47%; no clean water, 32%; unsafe at night, 60%; no food, 16%; no medicine, 17%.)

But on some questions Iraqis and Americans see more or less eye to eye -- and neither side is jumping for joy:

Americans:

WAS U.S. ACTION RIGHT THING, OR SHOULD U.S. HAVE STAYED OUT?

Right thing: 47%; Stayed out: 46%


Iraqis:

Taking everything into account, do you think the coalition invasion of Iraq has done more harm than good or more good than harm?

More harm: 46%; More good: 33%; The same: 16%


Americans:

U.S. EFFORTS TO STABILIZE IRAQ ARE GOING…

Very well: 4%; Somewhat well: 34%; Somewhat badly: 31%; Very badly: 29%


Iraqis:

Is Iraq much better off, somewhat better off, somewhat worse off or much worse off than before the U.S. invasion?

Much better off: 11%; Somewhat better off: 31%; About the same: 17%; Somewhat worse off: 24%; Much worse off: 15%


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