What do Iraqis Think?

A new poll from the University of Michigan may provide some insight.

The growing sense of insecurity affected all three of Iraq's major ethnic and religious groups. The number of Iraqis who "strongly agreed" that life is "unpredictable and dangerous" jumped from 41% to 48% of Shiites, from 67% to 79% of Sunnis, and from 16% to 50% of Kurds. The most recent survey, done in April this year, also asked for "the three main reasons for the U.S. invasion of Iraq." Less than 2% chose "to bring democracy to Iraq" as their first choice. The list was topped by "to control Iraqi oil" (76%), followed by "to build military bases" (41%) and "to help Israel" (32%).

91.7% of Iraqis oppose the presence of coalition troops in the country, up from 74.4% in 2004. 84.5% are "strongly opposed". Among Sunnis, opposition to the US presence went from 94.5% to 97.9% (97.2% "strongly opposed"). Among Shia,
opposition to the US presence went from 81.2% to 94.6%, with "strongly opposed" going from 63.5% to 89.7%. Even among the Kurds, opposition went from 19.6% to 63.3%. In other words, it isn't just that Iraqis oppose the American presence - it's that their feelings are intense: only 7.2% "somewhat oppose" and 4.7% "somewhat support."

Source: Abu Aardvark

I can't verify the accuracy of the poll. I would be willing to give the University of Michigan the benefit of the doubt, however, as capable of doing as good a job as possible in such a poll. It must be terribly difficult to get a scientific sample in Iraq due to the violence and lack of electricity/phone service. Whatever the difficulties, I'm not sure they would slant the results in any particular way.

So, the numbers may be a little off, but I don't have any reason to suspect the overall findings.

If the numbers are remotely accurate, consider the 'battle for the hearts and minds' lost.

GP