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Current Events » in reply to Latest poll of Iraqis

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Here.

Interesting results, some surprising, some not so surprising. Many answers seem to firmly contradict other answers.

Note the differences between the Arabs and Kurds, and the differences by location.

54 percent say security where they live is better now than it was before the war, which really surprised me.

Only 21 percent think an Islamic state is a good idea. (Again, my rule of thumb: As long as women get a real vote in elections, Iraq will do just fine.)

Trust in the Iraqi police and army has gone up significantly, a very good sign for eventual self-rule.

Their ignorance of, and/or hostility to, politics in general is amazing, but given their experience with politics, probably not surprising:

...six in 10 Iraqis can’t name a single national leader they trust (though even more can’t name one they specifically mistrust). Sixty-one percent express little or no trust in political parties, and nearly seven in 10 don’t identify themselves with any party. The only parties that emerge with more than minimal support are either Islamist or Kurdish; respondents named more than 25 individual parties, but most had less than one percent support.

...Three-quarters say joining a political party is something they “would never, under any circumstances, do”; indeed after decades of repression, more than a third, 36 percent, say that simply talking with other people about politics is something they would never do.

...Choices also are fragmented when Iraqis are asked which national leader they “trust the most”– more than 40 individual answers, each with few mentions. Only five received mentions from more than three percent...

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