End of Saddam Hussein "worth all today's problems", survey says
Washington (AsiaNews/Agencies) A joint USA Today, CNN and Gallup poll survey of 3444 Iraqis reveals that 42% of people believe the situation is better now than it was one year ago when the country was first invaded; 46%, however, say the war has done "more bad than good" for Iraq.
Yet there is major consensus on one issue: getting rid of Saddam Hussein "has been worth all the problems" dealt with until now and 61% of Iraqis say they would like to see the former leader tried and condemned to death.
More than half of Iraqis retain Iraq is doing better now than before the allied invasion. Concerning the country's future, only 10% said they were pessimistic, while 90% are convinced that Iraq has a bright future ahead.
Regarding foreign troops that have freed Iraq from its tyrant, 71% describe their presence as an "occupying" on while 19% still view them as a "liberating" force.
Of those polled 67% believe the US troops "don't do anything" to protect civilians gunfire and bombings; only 11% say the opposite is true, that is, "they are doing a lot".
A third of those interviewed are convinced that attacks against US troops are "justified" while 22% say that "some are justified, but not others". Only a quarter of Iraqis call them "totally unjustified".
Responses to the above question varied according to region: for example, in Baghdad 64% said that attacks on American soldiers were partly or totally "morally unjustified".
The survey revealed that 57% of the population wants American and British troops to pull out of Iraq. Yet not immediately, but within a few months. At the same time, attacks on civilians make 51% of those interviewed think that their presence is "necessary".
In terms of the world community, 56% say they do not appreciate what Great Britain had done: only 1/3 give credibility what the UN says and does; 27% approve of the Provisional Governing Authority; 26% are in favor of a French intervention; and 23% fully support the joint role of US and British forces.
A separate survey conducted in the United States shows that there is waning support of the original intentions of American forces: 47% of Americans said they believed invading Iraq was the "right thing to do" versus 58% who said the same thing only one month ago and 63% last December. (PB)
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