Sunday, December 26, 2004

So Al-Basa'ir newspaper in Baghdad published a public opinion survey among the students at Baghdad university. It revealed that: 75% of respondents described the American soldier as "rough"; 62 % said "arrogant"; 76 % said "coward"; 71 % said "aggressor"; 65 % said "liar"; 86 % said "without values"; and 76 % said "anti-Iraqi." Students were also asked about their prediction of the nature of the relationship between Iraqis and the occupation army (US, not Macedonian) after one year from now. 48 % predicted "combat"; 38 % predicted "conflict"; while 14 % predicted a "dispute." The percentage of those who predicted an "understanding" was..zero. As for the responsibility for the deterioration of the security situation in Iraq, 34 % blamed the forces of occupation; 19 % blamed neighboring countries; 14 % blamed the provisional [puppet] government; 13 % blamed Al-Qa`idah; 12 % blamed AlMahdi Army, and 8% blamed former regime loyalists. Nevertheless, Bush still thinks that he is making progress in Iraq.