According to the Center for Research and Strategic Studies in Baghdad, whose polls have frequently been cited by all sides of the Iraq debates, Iraqis prefer John Kerry over George Bush for President by 6.5%. 58% don't care who wins, suggesting that - for better or worse - most Iraqis don't see a huge difference between the two. The Center's director Sadoun al-Dulame says: " "22.5 percent said we prefer to see Kerry as the next American president. And those who said we prefer Bush just 16 percent, no more. And, that's a decline for Bush because when we asked the Iraqis two months ago, Bush was in front of Kerry." And Bush's support is by far the strongest in the Kurdish areas - 60% approval there - suggesting that it is far weaker in the rest of the country. To be precise, "The poll indicated 75 percent of Arab Iraqis who have an opinion support John Kerry."
The story also looks at the leading Iraqi talk radio call-in show: "A more immediate gauge of Iraqi public opinion is often heard on Baghdad's call-in radio station, Radio Dijla... The head of the radio station is Ahmad al-Rikaby. He says President Bush's popularity in Iraq has steadily been on the decline. Mr. al-Rikaby says, in the beginning, Mr. Bush's popularity was very high because he led the effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power. However, he says many Iraqis now believe President Bush has failed to deliver on promises of reconstruction, improved services and better security."
What do the Iraqi people know that the American conservatives who constantly claim to speak in their name do not?
16% of Iraqis = many Arabs
[/Lee Smith]
Posted by: praktike | October 28, 2004 at 09:51 AM