Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq
WASHINGTON,
Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Most Iraqis want U.S. forces to immediately leave their
country, saying that it would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian
violence, according to new polls by the State Department and independent
researchers.
In Baghdad, the State Department poll found nearly
three-quarters of respondents said they would feel safer if U.S. and other
foreign forces left Iraq, with 65 percent of those asked favoring an immediate
pullout, according to poll results published by The Washington Post Wednesday.
Another poll by the Program on International Policy
Attitudes at the University of Maryland, found that 71 percent of Iraqis
questioned want the Iraqi government to ask foreign forces to depart within a
year.
By large margins, though, Iraqis believed that the
U.S. government would refuse the request, with 77 percent of those polled saying
the United States intended to keep permanent military bases in the country.
The stark assessments, among the most negative
attitudes toward U.S. forces since they invaded Iraq in 2003, contrast sharply
with views expressed by the Iraqi government.
Last week, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said
coalition troops should remain in the country until Iraqi security forces were
"capable of ending terrorism and maintaining stability and security."
The State Department poll was based on 1,870
face-to-face interviews conducted from June 26 to July 6 while the Program on
International Policy Attitudes poll was conducted over the first three days of
September. Enditem
