Det sägs ju att länder som USA eller Sverige är ”delade” nationer i den meningen att ungefär hälften är höger och ungefär hälften är vänster. Detta är säkert något som stämmer mer eller mindre över hela västvärlden. På många sätt är detta en besvärlig situation. De flesta av oss tycker säkert att världen vore bättre om bara den andra halvan kunde ta sitt förnuft till fånga och inse vikten av att lägga ned välfärdsstaten, sänka skatterna, avreglera ekonomin, etc. Sett ur detta perspektiv kan det ju vara ”roligt” att veta att detta inte är ännu ett patetiskt i-landsproblem. Ty även bland de stackars älskvärda irakierna råder det en uppdelning: de som stöder slaktandet av amerikanska soldater och de som inte gör det.

The Mercury News rapporterar:

A new poll found that nearly half of Iraqis approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces, and most favor setting a timetable for American troops to leave.

The poll was to be published Tuesday by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a Web site that reports on public opinion from around the globe. The survey was conducted Jan. 2-5, with a nationwide sample of 1,150 Iraqis from country’s main religious and ethnic sects.

According to the poll’s findings, 47 percent of Iraqis approve of attacks on American forces, but there were large differences among ethnic and religious groups. Among Sunni Muslims, 88 percent said they approved of the attacks. That approval was found among 41 percent of Shiite Muslims and 16 percent of Kurds.

…

”They’re pretty much the same results that have been going on since 2003, so it’s consistent with a lot of the attitudes that exist,” said Anthony H. Cordesman, a former Pentagon official and a longtime Iraq watcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a center for national-security studies in Washington. ”We’re not seen as liberators by the Sunnis, but what else is new?” (Min kursivering.)

Wikipedia har mer information:

Polls conducted in June 2005 suggest even more anti-occupation sentiment; most alarming to U.S. policymakers is rising support for the insurgency. According to the Boston Globe (10 June 2005): ”a recent internal poll conducted for the U.S.-led coalition found that nearly 45 percent of the population supported the insurgent attacks, making accurate intelligence difficult to obtain. Only 15 percent of those polled said they strongly supported the U.S.-led coalition.” (Min kursivering.)

Och som jag tidigare också har rapporterat kunde man i The Telegraph för ett tag sedan läsa om en annan opinionsundersökning:

Millions of Iraqis believe that suicide attacks against British troops are justified, a secret military poll commissioned by senior officers has revealed.

The poll, undertaken for the Ministry of Defence and seen by The Sunday Telegraph, shows that up to 65 per cent of Iraqi citizens support attacks and fewer than one per cent think Allied military involvement is helping to improve security in their country.

It demonstrates for the first time the true strength of anti-Western feeling in Iraq after more than two and a half years of bloody occupation.

The nationwide survey also suggests that the coalition has lost the battle to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, which Tony Blair and George W Bush believed was fundamental to creating a safe and secure country.

Slutsats? Kriget mot Irak är inte över.