Pessimism 'growing among Iraqis'

The poll was commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD German TV and USA Today.

Lots of figures, but the sampling pool was apparently only 2000 people. The statistics that intrigued me the most were the ones below:

A large number of Sunnis, 48%, said they thought Iraq should have a strong leader in five years’ time, compared to 46% who said they wanted a democracy.

Only 11% of Shias sought a strong leader, with 52% calling for democracy and 37% for an Islamic state

So, if I’m not mistaken, this means that more Sunnis would like a fascist styled government than a democracy. I guess I could understand, since they are a minority population, however it’s very telling of their mental state. And a little more than a third of Shias want an Islamic state. That would be the third or fourth religious based state in the region. What ever happened to the idea secular governments?

On another note, I still think the U.S. is going to try to split Iraq into smaller countries. Easier to pressure diplomatically. It’s also ironic that these figures came out three days after the pentagon released its decision that Iraq was in a state of civil war. (you’ll understand after the second paragraph)

Less than 40% of those polled said things were good in their lives, compared to 71% two years ago.

However, a majority of those questioned said that, despite daily violence, they did not believe Iraq was in a state of civil war.

The poll paints a picture of an increasingly polarised Iraq, with acutely diverging views between Sunni Arabs and Shias – Sunnis appearing more pessimistic.

There are also regional differences, with pessimism most keenly felt across central Iraq, including Baghdad, where Sunni Arabs are most numerous.

But despite their differences, 58% overall said they wanted Iraq to remain a unified country. Almost all said they did not want Iraqi to be broken up along sectarian lines.

Posted by scooter
A Financial Markets employee When taking action, remember that without a strategey for AFTER, then ya'll just be pissin in the wind... I am also very apathetic.

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