Poll: Year Later, Most Iraqis Happier Without Saddam

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

So what do Iraqis think about the occupation, the invasion and their lives in general? If you listen too much to some keyboard jihadis, you’d think that the US is despised and the “freedom fighters” are representative of the Iraqi people. Well, pardon me for letting the facts speak for themselves.

· nearly six in ten Iraqis say life is better than it was under the former dictator

· Asked how things were going in their lives these days, seven in 10 said the situation was very good or quite good, and only 15 percent said things were very bad. Looking ahead,
· 71 percent said they expected conditions in their lives to be much better or somewhat better a year from now.
· half of those questioned believe the invasion was the right thing to do, compared with 39 percent who said it was wrong

· Iraqis generally appear to want occupation forces to stay at least until security is restored and an Iraqi government is in place. Only 15 percent say they should leave now.

· Asked whether attacks on coalition forces were justified, only 17 percent said yes. Only 14 percent said attacks on the CPA were justified.

· more than four in five Iraqis say they want to have democracy

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4579206&pageNumber=0

2

The BBC reports the same:

A large majority of Iraqis believe life is better now than it was under Saddam Hussein, according to an opinion poll released today.

Almost half (49 per cent) of those questioned believe the invasion of their country by US and UK troops was right, compared with 39 per cent who said it was wrong.

Some 57 per cent said that life was better now than under Saddam, against 19 per cent who said it was worse and 23 per cent who said it was about the same.

Iraqi people appeared optimistic about the future, with 71 per cent saying they expected things to be better in a year’s time, 6 per cent predicting it will be worse and 9 per cent the same.

Overall, 70 per cent said that life was good now, compared with 29 per cent who said it was bad.

Some 85 per cent identified restoration of public security as a major priority, against 30 per cent who wanted elections for a national government and 28 per cent an economic revival.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=501684

3

yes and 50% of the people in the US still think Bush is doing a great job..

polls can have whatever outcome you desire.. i'd rather keep my eye on those road side bombs as a guage of Iraqi feelings towards the occupation.

4

Quoting selective excerpts now.

...] One of their chief complaints is about the effectiveness and continued presence of U.S., and British forces in Iraq.

While half of those questioned believe the invasion was the right thing to do, compared with 39 percent who said it was wrong, more than four in 10 said they had no confidence whatsoever in U.S. and British occupation troops, and 51 percent oppose the presence of coalition forces in Iraq.

...] More than 60 percent say they have not very much or no confidence at all in the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), expressing much more confidence in Iraq's religious leaders, the Iraqi police and the United Nations.

5

It's pretty interesting that more Iraqis than Americans seem to believe that things are going pretty well in Iraq.

The media, whether it be that biased western variety or some other variety, simply like to focus on the bad and the bloody. Particularly in an election year, the liberal leaning media in the US will be heavily negative to promote the Kerry candidacy.

I think the viewpoint of the people actually living the events is worthy of more consideration than that of the spin doctors. I'm glad the majority of the Iraqis feel as they do. :) Even where they have a majority viewpoint that expresses negativity toward the US presence and actions, their viewpoint should be respected. They've earned that respect.

6

Getting rid of Saddam was a good thing, who can argue that? The post war plan was not.

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[QUOTE]
Originally posted by myvoice: *
Even where they have a majority viewpoint that expresses negativity toward the US presence and actions, their viewpoint should be **respected. They've earned that **respect*.
[/QUOTE]

:) It's not a "respect". It's their right to have their viewpoints accepted, especially the negative ones. They are individual citizens of their own country (or should be). Don't forget, anyone who is not an Iraqi in that country, is a 'guest' of Iraq. Not the other way around. It is their right, infact i would argue it is their duty, to articulate negative opinions in a constructive manner for the purposes of ameliorating the situation. Anyone who is there to allegedly 'help' them achieve their desires, should be listening first and foremost to their criticisms.

8

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by underthedome: *
Getting rid of Saddam was a good thing, who can argue that? The post war plan was not.
[/QUOTE]

The post-war plan has been awful in some material respects, to be sure. Notwithstanding that poor plan, the Iraqis carry these opinions TODAY. The poll demonstrates that the Iraqis have some significant issues/concerns regarding the effectiveness of the CPA and the coalition. BUT, only 15% want the US to just leave now. Take a poll of the citizens of many other countries (including the US) and you'll find a lot more people saying we should just pack up and leave. Those holding that opinion ought to have the Iraqi public opinion poll repeatedly shoved in their faces until they finally "get it."

9

It's very good, news pulling out of Iraq wouldn't be good for anyone right now, except the fundies. Internationalizing Iraq and working with the world community to rebuild is fundamental for a quicker, more reliable, and long term success story.

10

Let’s not miss a point. A year ago you would be thrown in prison for voicing your opinion. Today there are people travelliing to Iraq interested in the views of Iraqi’s.

for the past 40 years the Iraqi people were “provided for” by an authoritarian totalitarian government. the US should have anticipated the complete collapse of that government, but it did not. More than anything the situation will increasingly become the responsibility of Iraqi’s.

By the way, ABC did a somewhat different poll on the living conditions in Iraq, and found many things very much improved:

What We Found

By nearly every quantifiable measure, the situation has improved since before the war — and also since our last effort.

However, the one exception — security — also happens to be the yardstick that Iraqis say matters most.

Iraqis by a wide margin express optimism for the future — and believe democracy can take hold; they are less certain that the country is ready for elections.

Any credit or praise for the U.S. is heavily tempered; roughly 8 in 10 Iraqis told us the Americans have not kept their promises — and they frequently told our reporters they blame the United States for problems in their lives.

Traffic and other transportation problems have become a major concern. In central Iraq, people ranked this their second-highest priority.

‘Eating Each Other’

Interestingly, two seminal events since our last visit — the capture of Saddam Hussein and the announcement of a political handover on June 30 — get limited attention.

And even when Iraqis acknowledge and appreciate progress, they do not necessarily credit the United States for the change.

One year later, attitudes toward the U.S. are fraught with contradictions. Many people who cheered the capture of Saddam Hussein also deplored the “humiliating” way it was carried out.

Iraqis often say they do not like seeing U.S. soldiers on their streets — but many would also agree with the crude assessment a 66-year-old tailor in Kut gave to Time magazine’s Terry McCarthy: “If the Americans leave now, everyone will start eating each other.”
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/GoodMorningAmerica/Iraq_anniversary_assessment_040314-1.html

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[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Ohioguy: *
*....roughly 8 in 10 Iraqis told us the Americans have not kept their promises.**
[/quote]

ahaan.

[quote]
"If the Americans leave now, everyone will start eating each other."
[/quote]

Not if the UN steps in.

i am sure most Iraqis, particularly the majority Shia population, would be much more happy with a representative Islamic government. As with everything else, we should abide by this wish of theirs.

12

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nadia_H: *

Not if the UN steps in..
[/QUOTE]

Thats a big If.

The point of teh survey should not be missed, with all their reservations and complaints etc. majority..and overwhelming majority of Iraqis are happier than they were under saddam's regime.

Lets not cloud this finding with all sorts of tangents. those tangents have their own place.

PA mentioned roadside bombvings as a gauge for people's sentiments. sure that represents teh sentiments of some tiny minority of the minority which is not happy.

13

Selective quoting indeed.

That poll you guys are talking about.. sure it aint all bad news, but it certainly isnt rose petals… The numbers are seriously skewed by the gap in opinion between Kurds and Arabs. (These numbers are included in the write-up)

Here’s a better write-up of the results:

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Spoon: I don't think the results are "seriously skewed" at all by including ALL Iraqis in the results. The final result might "mask" differences of opinion between various segments of the Iraqi population. And those differences are certainly worth noting.

I'm fairly certain that if you only considered the opinions of Iraqis living in Baghdad and then compared them with the opinions of those living in the Sunni triangle, you'd have different results also.

If you think the poll results are "skewed," then you would also have to believe that including the opinions of Democrats with Republicans in a single poll "seriously skews" the outcome. Or including the opinions of blacks and whites in a single poll "skews" the outcome.

15

So we are all on equal footing, here is the actual survey. What most suprised me, is that in a long series of questions on who should be responsible for current issues in iraq, as well as for the future of Iraq, the Iraqi’s overwhelmingly responded that the iraqi people and the iraqi Governement should be responsible.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/15_03_04_iraqsurvey.pdf

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Madhanee: *
Do you guys really believe in that poll?

[/QUOTE]

No. Of course not. I'd much rather extrapolate the views of the majority of average Iraqis based upon a few hundred or a few thousand people shooting at US soldiers and killing innocent Iraqis with bombs. Better yet, let's determine the views of the majority of average Iraqi's from keyboard jihadis or the Arab man in the street who relies upon
Al-Jazeera for his news.

The last thing I'd want to factor into the analysis is what the majority of average Iraqis say to a pollster.

Seriously. A poll has a margin of error. Perhaps the margin of error is bigger in this kind of a poll than a Gallup poll administered in the US. But, it is better than a lot of alternatives.

17

MV, by skewed I wouldn't infer 'incorrect'--the results are probably quite accurate. I just believe that in a society such as Iraq it might be beneficial to understand the views by composition. It's not like Democrat vs Republican.. it's closer to Union vs Confederate. These are functioning distictions, not mere statistical labels. Judging whether Iraq as a whole is happy by the mismeasure including Kurds serves only an outsider's conscience.. it shows little of practical use within the country. But taken in its parts the survey does provide meaningful information that may be used if properly understood.

18

Boy right wingers clutching at straws or what :bukbuk:

Survey the world population and you will get US and Britain are bunch of Liars and still no sign of WMDs

second survey majority would agree if you starve a people for 12 years destroy the infrastructure and put sanctions on a people life can not get any worse can it

:smack2:

19

Is it viable to give so much weight to such polls? 2500 people certainly dont speak for a country of more than 22 million. Besides, you have almost half sunnis, and half shias, give or take a few percent christians and druze. Was this poll representative of all ethnicities? Because its natural for most shias, if not all, to support the fall of Saddam, and vice versa. Point being, polls are a dime a dozen.

If the majority of the actual population was really in favor of all that has happened so far, the return to normalcy would be much quicker paced than it is now.

20

The poll itself was distributed in a fashion that questioned people in the provinces in approximately thier proportion to the overall population. One of the falacies of the journalism we see is that few reporters bother to go beyond Baghdad, where there is significant trouble. Polls like this, as well as the reporting by ABC are a lot mote indepth that most of what we see and hear.

Predictably, less than 5% of the population thought it was acceptable to bomb Iraqi police, coalition troops, and NGO's, yet this is what the news is filled with every day. At least the polls are attempting to get past the headlines...