Iraq war seen as boosting terrorism: Poll
U.S. President George W. Bush said he went to war in Iraq to make the world safe from international terrorism. Most people believe he's failed. However, the most favourable views were from Ghanaians and some other Africa countries.
According to a BBC survey done by the Canadian-headed international polling firm GlobeScan and the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes, more than half the people in 33 of 35 countries surveyed believe the war in Iraq has increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks.
"The world has come to judgment on the war in Iraq and the threat of terrorism," says GlobeScan's vice-president Chris Coulter of the company's Toronto office. "People in most countries feel the world is less safe now, and only a very few countries feel otherwise."
Such a high degree of agreement among so many nations is unusual in international polling, Stephen Krull of University of Maryland told the BBC. On average, 60 per cent of those who responded felt more vulnerable to terrorist attack since the war, while 12 per cent believed the invasion decreased the likelihood of attacks.
Meanwhile, more people than not in 20 of 35 countries think the U.S.-led forces should pull out of Iraq in the next few months. On average, 50 per cent want to see an early withdrawal of troops, while little more than one-third, 35 per cent, favour remaining until the situation has stabilized.
A global majority, too, believe it was a mistake to oust Saddam Hussein: in 21 countries more than 50 per cent view the move negatively, and a majority in only 11 countries think it was correct.
Canada, which refused to join the Iraq war, is highly skeptical about its deterrence of international terrorism: 69 per cent of those polled believe it has increased, and only 5 per cent think it decreased, the likelihood of a terrorist attack. Overall, 44 per cent of Canadians favour a U.S. troop withdrawal, while 47 per cent believe forces should stay until the situation is more stable.
The most negative view of the war's effect on terrorism was in China, South Korea, Egypt, Finland, Italy and Germany, where 80 per cent of people surveyed believed the threat had escalated. The most favourable views were in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania, where about 30 per cent believed the Iraq war has lessened the threat.
The survey polled some 42,000 people between October 2005 and early February 2006, before Iraq's recent surge of violence and increasing threat of civil war. The margin of error per country ranges from 2.5 to 4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
