DATE=2/25/98
TYPE=WORLDWIDE ENGLISH FEATURE (INTERVIEW)
NUMBER=7-18046
TITLE=AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION ON IRAQ
BYLINE=MARTIN SECREST
TELEPHONE=401-7467
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=NANCY SMART
CONTENT=
[V-V AVAILABLE IN AUDIO SERVICES]
INTRO: THE NOW EASING CRISIS IN IRAQ HAS RAISED DIFFERENT
CONCERNS AMONG THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. AMERICANS HAVE
EXPRESSED -- OFTEN IN THE SAME BREATH -- CONTEMPT FOR
THE REGIME OF SADDAM HUSSEIN, AND AN UNWILLINGNESS TO
USE MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ IN THE ABSENCE OF A
CLEAR THREAT OR AGENDA OF ACTION. A NEW USA TODAY/CNN
OPINION POLL INDICATES THAT 56 PERCENT OF AMERICANS
FAVOR THE AGREEMENT WITH IRAQ BROKERED OVEWR THE WEEKEND
IN BAGHDAD BY U-N SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN. OF
THOSE SAME RESPONDENTS, 82 PERCENT ALSO BELIEVE THAT
SADDAM HUSSEIN WILL VIOLATE THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RECENT AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION ON
IRAQ, MARTIN SECREST SPOKE WITH RICHARD IMMERMAN
["IM'-MER-MAN'], A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT TEMPLE
UNIVERSITY IN PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND DIRECTOR
OF THE UNIVERSITY'S CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF FORCE AND
DIPLOMACY. MR. IMMERMAN SAID THAT RECENT OPINION POLLS
SHOW DIVISIONS AMONG AMERICANS SIMILAR TO THOSE
EXPRESSED DURING THE VIETNAM WAR:
TAPE: IMMERMAN, SECREST 3:
00
IMMERMAN: THE PUBLIC WAS VERY DIVIDED; WAS VERY, IN A SENSE
-- YOU DON'T WANT TO USE A WORD LIKE
'SCHIZOPHRENIC' -- BUT THE VOTE SUGGESTED A
CERTAIN INCOMPATIBILITY THAT, ON THE ONE HAND,
WHETHER IT BE SADDAM HUSSEIN, OR OVERALL, THE
CURRENT REGIME IN IRAQ, WAS A MENACE, WAS A
THREAT, AND SHOULD BE DONE AWAY WITH. ON THE
OTHER HAND, IF THAT REQUIRED THE COMMITMENT OF
FORCE, THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF RELUCTANCE TO DO
SO. SO THERE FREQUENTLY WAS A DICHOTOMY, OR
INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN MEANS AND ENDS.
SECREST: WITHIN THE SAME RESPONDENTS?
IMMERMAN: WITHIN THE SAME RESPONDENT. ABSOLUTELY. AND AS I
SAY, THAT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR THE UNITED STATES.
SECREST: FOR THOSE RESPONDENTS THAT EXPRESSED
RESERVATIONS ABOUT ATTACKING IRAQ, WHAT
PRINCIPALLY, OR IN PRINCIPLE DO YOU THINK
ACCOUNTS FOR THOSE SENTIMENTS?
IMMERMAN: I THINK THERE ARE REALLY TWO PRIMARY ONES. ONE --
I THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, GENERALLY, ARE
RELUCTANT TO SUFFER CASUALTIES. IT'S BEEN TERMED,
'THE POST-HEROIC PERIOD.' WE'RE NO LONGER IN THE
DAYS OF NAPOLEAN. AND SECONDLY, ALONG WITH THAT,
IS THE PERVASIVE COVERAGE OF THE BELIEF THAT,
SHOULD THERE BE AN INTERVENTION, IT WOULD NOT
ACHIEVE A FINAL OBJECTIVE. MEANING, WHETHER IT BE
TO EITHER OVERTHROW OR OUST SADDAM, OR IN FACT,
ELIMINATE THE THREAT POSED BY WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION. SO, BASED ON THOSE TWO FACTORS, I
THINK IT'S PRETTY UNDERSTANDABLE WHY MANY IN THE
PUBLIC WERE WARY OF THE INTERVENTION.
SECREST: DO OPINION POLLS SHOW A DISTINCTION IN THE
MINDS OF AMERICANS BETWEEN THE IRAQI REGIME AND
THE IRAQI PEOPLE?
IMMERMAN: YES, THEY DO. I KNOW THAT THEY SHOW A
DISTINCTION. AND THAT'S PROBABLY ANOTHER
DETERRENT -- THAT THERE IS GENERALLY THIS
RELUCTANCE TO USE MILITARY FORCE WHEN IT'S ALMOST
INEVITABLE THAT THERE WOULD BE COLLATERAL DAMAGE,
THAT CIVILIANS WOULD IN FACT BE PLACED IN HARM'S
WAY. HAVING SAID THAT, THOUGH, I THINK THAT'S A
RELATIVELY MINOR CONSIDERATION. AGAIN, THAT'S
GETTING INTO QUESTIONS OF COMPLEXITY AND NUANCE
THAT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS NOT PARTICULARLY
COMFORTABLE ADDRESSING.
SECREST: THOSE REFLECTIONS ON AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION
POLL DATA ARE FROM PROFESSOR RICHARD IMMERMAN,
OF TEMPLE UNIVERSITY'S CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF
FORCE AND DIPLOMACY. (SIGNED)
NEB/MS/NES
25-Feb-98 4:39 PM EST (2139 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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