[Peace-discuss] Polls
Morton K. Brussel
brussel4 at insightbb.com
Thu Sep 7 21:50:22 CDT 2006
FYI. There are some typos I believe, but the results are interesting,
indicating increased skepticism of pronouncements from Washington. It
will be interesting to see how the latest administration propaganda
on the "War on Terror" affects these polls and the electorate. --mkb
Poll Finds Waning Faith in Military Interventions
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - Five years after "9/11", the U.S. public is considerably
less enthusiastic about projecting military power abroad, according
to a major new survey, the first of a spate of polls that are likely
to released in the run-up to Monday's fifth anniversary of the
attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
The survey, conducted by the Pew Research Centre for the People and
the Press here, found that Republicans remained substantially more
supportive of military deployments overseas than both Democrats and
independents who also believe -- by a three to one margin -- that the
U.S. has lost respect in the world over the last few years.
The survey of more than 1,500 randomly selected adults also found
that nearly half (46 percent) of the respondents consider U.S.
support for Israel a "major reason" for the rise in anti-U.S.
sentiment around the world, a significant increase since Pew last
posed the question 10 months ago.
Significantly, that view was held by similar percentages of self-
described Republicans and Democrats who, on most other foreign policy
questions, showed wide partisan differences.
The survey, however, was conducted Aug. 9-13, just before the
ceasefire that ended the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah,
when international pressure on Washington to persuade the Jewish
State to stop its bombing campaign in Lebanon was at its height.
Publication of the Pew survey coincided with the release of a second
poll released Wednesday by CNN which found widespread scepticism over
claims by the administration of President George W. Bush that the
U.S. is making progress in the war on Iraq and that the war is
related to the larger "global war on terrorism" launched after 9/11.
Only one in four respondents in that poll, which was conducted Aug.
30 to Sep. 2, thought that Washington and its allies were winning the
war, compared to 13 percent who said the insurgents were winning and
62 percent who said that the war was essentially stalemated.
Despite repeated and increasingly frequent assertions by Bush that
the war in Iraq has become the "central front" in the war on
terrorism, a majority of 53 percent said it was "an entirely separate
military action." A larger majority of 58 percent said they opposed
the war, compared to 39 percent who said they favoured it -- a margin
that has not changed substantially over recent months.
The most interesting finding of the latest Pew poll appeared to be
the growing public disillusionment with U.S. military intervention.
By a 45 percent to 32 percent margin, respondents said they believed
that the most effective way to reduce the threat of terrorist attacks
on the U.S. is to "decrease" rather than "increase" Washington's
military presence abroad.
As noted in an accompanying analysis by the Pew Centre, that finding
marks a "stark reversal" from the public's position on the first
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. At that time, a plurality of 48
percent of the public said expanding U.S. military deployments
overseas was the best way to protect against future attacks, while 29
percent called for reducing such commitments.
Similarly, according to the new survey, 43 percent of respondents
today say they believed that "military strikes" against nations that
were trying to develop nuclear weapons was a very important way to
reduce future terrorism -- a reduction of 15 percent compared to a
Pew survey taken in October 2002 when Bush was trying to win
Congressional approval for a resolution authorising him to take
military action against Iraq.
The new survey also suggested a more general desire to reduce U.S.
involvement in the Middle East compared to four years ago. Asked to
identify what would be a "very important" step in reducing terrorism,
attacking nuclear facilities was rated the highest (58 percent) in a
group of five options. It was followed by increasing defence spending
and decreasing dependence on Mideast oil (53 percent) and "not get
(ting) involved in other countries' problems (32 percent).
In the most recent poll, however, attacking nuclear facilities ranked
third, far behind decreasing dependence on Mideast oil (67 percent)
and increasing defence spending (52 percent), and just two points
ahead of the non-involvement option, which rose (41 percent).
The increase in what some would describe as "isolationist" sentiment
echoed a similar finding in another poll conducted by Pew and the
Council on Foreign Relations in November 2005. Forty-two percent of
respondents said they believed Washington should "mind its own
business internationally and let other countries get along the best
they can on their own", compared to only 30 percent who took that
position in December 2002.
Democrats and independents account for much of these changes. In the
summer of 2002, for example, Democrats by an eight-point margin
favoured an increased military presence overseas. They now favour by
a diminished presence by a nearly three-to-one margin.. Support for a
decreased military presence among independents has also dropped
sharply, by some 17 percentage points, to a 49 percent plurality.
On the question of why the U.S. has lost support around the world,
more than two-thirds of respondents identified a "major reason" as
the Iraq war, 58 percent cited "America's wealth and power"; 49
percent, "the U.S.-led war on terror"; and 46 percent, "U..S. support
for Israel".
Democrats were significantly more likely than Republicans to cite the
Iraq war and the war on terrorism, while Republicans were more likely
to cite "America's wealth and power."
The survey also found a gradual increase in the view that the 9/11
attacks signified the beginning of a major conflict between the West
and the Islamic world. In October 2001, for example, only 28 percent
of respondents agreed with that view; in August 2002, 35 percent
expressed agreement, and, in the most recent poll, 40 percent took
that position.
Conversely, the percentage of those who agreed with the proposition
that 9/11 represented only a conflict with a "small, radical group"
has fallen from 63 percent to 49 percent over the same five-year period.
Still, 47 percent of respondents today said that 9/11 attacks were
equal in seriousness to the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour,
Hawaii, that launched the U.S. into World War II, while 35 percent
said they were "more serious." Younger respondents, however, were
significantly more likely to say they were "more serious" than older
respondents.
Copyright © 2006 IPS-Inter Press Service
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