They are skewed numbers.  Four of the six cities polled (Baghdad, Hillah, Diwaniyah and Baquba 2/3) are in the Sunni Triangle (although it represents only the most hostile 15% of the Iraqi population, but since it's where the action is, it's also where the press concentrate), and even Mosul is Sunni; the only Shi'ite city represented is Basra, and no Kurdish city is included.  Hardly surprising, coming from Newsweek, a magazine that has opposed the Iraqi intervention since Day One.

 

 

 

Eva-Lise Carlstrom

Sent: 16 June 2004 05:07 PM

 

Those articles all appear to be from a year or so ago.

 

[Blunderov] A more recent poll.

Best Regards

 

<q>

Grim Numbers

A U.S.-sponsored poll shows Iraqis have lost confidence in the occupying

authorities--and that the majority of Iraqis want Coalition troops out of

the country 'immediately'

 

By Michael Hirsh

Newsweek

Updated: 4:55 p.m. ET June 15, 2004June 15 - The first survey of Iraqis

sponsored by the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority after the Abu Ghraib

prison scandal shows that most say they would feel safer if Coalition forces

left immediately, without even waiting for elections scheduled for next

year. An overwhelming majority, about 80 percent, also say they have "no

confidence" in either the U.S. civilian authorities or coalition forces.

 

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed also said they believed violent

attacks have increased around the country because "people have lost faith in

the coalition forces."

 

The poll numbers were reflected in the anger seen in the streets of Baghdad

after a series of car bombings on Monday. While U.S forces and Iraqi police

hung back, crowds set some of the vehicles on fire, threw bricks and shouted

insults at U.S. soldiers. According to the poll, a mere one percent of

Iraqis now feel that the coalition forces contribute most to their sense of

security; only 18 percent described Iraqi police the same way. By contrast,

a total of 71 percent said they depended mostly on their family and friends

and neighbors for security.

 

The poll results which have not been released publicly but were obtained by

NEWSWEEK, indicate that the April publication of photos depicting the abuse

of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison accelerated a long-term decline in

support for the U.S. occupation. Of the Iraqis surveyed, 71 percent said

they had been surprised by the Abu Ghraib revelations. Most, however, said

they now believe the abuses were widespread. Fifty-four percent agreed with

the statement that "all Americans behave this way," and 61 percent said they

believed no one would be punished for the abuses. A CPA spokesman said

Tuesday that he had not yet examined the numbers.

 

Taken from May 14 to May 23, the survey also shows a sharp rise in the

popularity of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, with 81 percent saying

they had either a better or much better or better opinion of him than they

did three months earlier. Sadr's Al Mahdi Army has been engaged in a bloody

standoff with U.S. forces in the cities of Kufa and Najaf for more than two

months. His popularity among leading Iraqi public figures is exceeded only

by that of another Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who was

"strongly supported" by 51 percent of Iraqis and "somewhat supported" by

another 19 percent.

 

The news for the newly designated Iraqi prime minister, Iyad Allawi, was not

as good. While the poll was taken just before he was named to head the new

interim government, 61 percent said they either strongly oppose or somewhat

oppose Allawi, a former exile once backed by the CIA. Only 23 percent said

they somewhat support or strongly support him.

 

On the positive side, the poll showed that 63 percent of Iraqis believe that

installing the interim Iraqi government will make things "better" for Iraq,

with only 15 percent saying thing will be worse. The survey also indicated

that most Iraqis display continuing confidence in the new Iraqi police and

army.

 

The poll reflects an inexorable decline in support for the U.S. occupation

since the fall of Baghdad over a year ago. In November of 2003, 47 percent

of those surveyed still expressed confidence in the CPA; those figures

plummeted to 9 percent in April and 11 percent in May. In the latest survey,

81 percent of Iraqis also expressed "no confidence" in Coalition forces.

Seventy-eight percent expressed the same grim opinion of the outgoing CPA,

which is slated to dissolve when sovereignty is handed over to the interim

government on June 30. The survey does show a marginal uptick in support for

the CPA and coalition forces since April, but that small increase falls

within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent. Fifty-seven

percent of those surveyed also expressed no confidence in the United

Nations.

 

The survey underlines just how much Coalition forces, which have struggled

unsuccessfully to crush an insurgency that has targeted increasing numbers

of Iraqis, as well as power lines and other facilities, seem to have lost

the faith of most Iraqis. In November of 2003, just 11 percent of Iraqis

said they would feel "more safe" if coalition forces left immediately; that

number rose to 28 percent in January. Today 55 percent of Iraqis say they

would feel safer if coalition forces departed right away, even though the

Bush administration has indicated they would stay on at least until the

Iraqi elections in 2005. A whopping 69 percent also want the CPA to play no

role at all in the selection of an independent election commission.

 

The poll consisted of face-to-face interviews with 1,093 people selected

randomly in six Iraqi cities and towns: Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Hillah,

Diwaniyah and Baquba. It was conducted by the Independent Institute for

Administration and Civil Society Studies, a CPA- sponsored Iraqi survey

group.

 

C 2004 Newsweek, Inc. </q>

 

 

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