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| Iraq |
| US surge has failed - Iraqi poll |
| 2007-09-10 |
| Ron Paul people even skew polls in Iraq? I question the timing. Seriously, if "worse" answer wasn't essentially uniform across such a wide variety of questions one might be more inclined to believe the results. More than 2,000 Iraqis were questioned in all 18 provinces. About 70% of Iraqis believe security has deteriorated in the area covered by the US military "surge" of the past six months, an opinion poll suggests. The survey by the BBC, ABC News and NHK of more than 2,000 people across Iraq also suggests that nearly 60% see attacks on US-led forces as justified. This rises to 93% among Sunni Muslims compared to 50% for Shia. The findings come as the top US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, prepares to address Congress. He and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are due to testify about the effects of the surge and the current situation in Iraq. The poll suggests that the overall mood in Iraq is as negative as it has been since the US-led invasion in 2003, says BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs. The poll was conducted in more than 450 neighbourhoods across all 18 provinces of Iraq in August, and has a margin of error of + or - 2.5%. It was commissioned jointly by the BBC, ABC and Japan's NHK. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #8 I have heard that the surge has cost us support in the Shia community because they would like to be left alone to exterminate the Sunnis and be done with it. The fact that we are interfering with their (admittedly logical) plan is costing us friends. (but yes, I think they also were very selective in who they gave the poll to) Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2007-09-10 18:55 |
| #7 I don't know the politics of the Japanese newsgroup NHK, but the other two are so far left they have to look right to see anyone else. I wouldn't trust them to tell me the sky was blue on a sunny day. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-09-10 17:15 |
| #6 Since the Shia are 65% of the population and the Sunni Arabs 10-15%, the BBc's stated result (60% support attacks) unless at least 70% of the Kurds, Turkmen and Assyrian Christians support attacking Americans. Not gonna happen Clive, but a brave attempt at propaganda. Now tell us how the English yobs are mercilessly persecuting the poor peace loving Mohammedans in Blightly by parading around short skirts and stuffing their faces with pork pies. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-09-10 15:37 |
| #5 Bottom line is that this is more anti-American propaganda from the left-wing media. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-09-10 15:16 |
| #4 These polls are useless. Iraq is still a country where the wrong response to a question can get you killed. That's not to say that walking down the street can get you killed. But political opinions are still best kept private. The other problem has to do with the pollsters. What kind of Iraqi pollsters do left-wing foreign journalists tend to hire? People who agree with them. What kind of people tend to agree with them? Anti-American Iraqis of all persuasions. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-09-10 15:15 |
| #3 The BBC? Give us the raw data to analyze, and we'll see. I wonder if how many real people were actually interviewed, I suspect the BBC have not thought to check. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-10 15:13 |
| #2 The cut and run crowd is really pulling out all the stops. They must really be afraid of what the general will say. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-09-10 14:58 |
| #1 BBC is not a news source. It is a rag. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-09-10 14:43 |