Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=11/17/2003

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/POLL

NUMBER=5-54547

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: In Iraq, a new opinion poll conducted by an independent Iraqi research group indicates an increasing number of people view coalition forces as occupiers rather than liberators. Correspondent Alisha Ryu spoke to Iraqi academics in Baghdad about the possible reasons behind the changing public perception.

TEXT: Pollsters at the newly established Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies in Baghdad conducted more than 16-hundred face-to-face interviews in seven cities in late September and early October.

The founder of the center, Sadoun Al-Dulame, is an Iraqi university professor who spent years in exile during Saddam Hussein's regime.

He says the new survey shows a more negative Iraqi attitude toward coalition forces than his first survey, a month after U-S forces captured Baghdad in April.

/// DULAME ACT ///

When the American troops, the first time they arrived in Iraq, most of the Iraqi look or perceive them as liberating forces. But after six months, most of the Iraqi people look at them as occupying forces.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Dulame's survey came to the same conclusion the State Department's intelligence branch reached last month from a classified opinion poll. That survey reportedly was part of a recent Central Intelligence Agency report suggesting Iraqis were losing faith in the American-led efforts to rebuild the country.

Baghdad University Political Science Professor Abdul Jabbar Ahmed Abdullah, says he believes what has changed people's minds in the past six months is the growing Iraqi perception that coalition forces, particularly the U-S military, do not understand or respect Iraq's culture.

/// ABDULLAH ACT ///

It is a traditional culture. This point is very important for the American government to take into consideration. The American government is looking at Iraq from their viewpoint, while they should be looking to Iraq from the Iraqi viewpoint.

/// END ACT ///

/// SOUND OF SOLDIERS RAIDING HOUSE - EST AND FADE ///

Mr. Abdullah argues that while the U-S military's tactic of raiding private homes may help root out insurgents and weapons, it has also alienated many Iraqis who do not approve of such actions.

/// SOUND OF MILITARY RADIO SQUAWKING - EST, FADE ///

Another contributing factor could be the widely held belief that most U-S troops view the Iraqi people with suspicion and hostility.

And on the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere, even the most minor tales and rumors of American mistreatment of Iraqis routinely get passed from person to person.

Mr. Abdullah says such stories frequently become more and more exaggerated each time they are retold. Truth is often obscured. But the professor says the Iraqi people believe much of what they hear anyway.

Those mistaken beliefs are reinforced if American soldiers make a mistake and civilians are hurt.

Back at the research center, Sadoun Al-Dulame says he also believes the coalition is having difficulty winning the hearts and minds of the people because Iraqis have been expecting far more economic benefits from the Americans than what they have received.

/// SOUND OF GUN FIRE FROM HELICOPTER - EST, FADE ///

Mr. Dulame says when the Iraqis saw how easily the U-S military was able to remove Saddam from power, they believed the United States could also quickly and easily fix the country's badly broken infrastructure.

/// DULAME 2nd ACT ///

The Iraqi people said we do not believe that a great power like America is not able to fix the electricity or water within three or four months. That is what the Iraqi people said. If they (the United States) help the Iraqi people solve their everyday life problems, they will accept them.

/// END ACT ///

Professor Abdullah agrees with Mr. Dulame's assessment. He says even among Iraqis who complain most bitterly about American failures, there is still a sense of satisfaction that some things have changed for the better in Iraq.

In many communities, coalition forces have helped restore basic services, rebuild schools and hospitals. They have helped set up forums where ordinary Iraqis can voice their opinions and participate in a political process.

But Mr. Abdullah says most ordinary Iraqis are becoming tired of being victims of the spiraling violence in Iraq, where coalition troops are attacked daily and terrorists have killed hundreds of Iraqis. He says civilians believe the violence will worsen as long as U-S troops stay in their country.

/// OPT ABDULLAH 2nd ACT ///

This does not mean we hate the government of the United States. No. We say that we need government for the Iraqi people, not American military in our city.

/// END ACT // END OPT ///

Asked in the survey whether coalition forces patrolling in their neighborhoods made them feel safe, only three-percent of the respondents said yes. (SIGNED)

NEB/AR/ALW/RAE