Iraqi Opinion Poll Results:
“63% of Iraqis say that the withdrawal of American and allied forces will not be in the best interest of Iraq, it will undermine the work towards security and control of the country. 27% say that it would be in the best interest of Iraq. 9% had no opinion.”58% say that terrorists do the kidnappings and assassination of police and soldiers. 9% say that patriots fighting for Iraq carry them out. 32% say ignorant Iraqis who have been brain washed & misled carry them out.”89% said that the terrorism, kidnapping, beheadings and assassination of police and security forces do not help the freeing of Iraq and the building of a stable country. 6% said that it would help free Iraq and build stability. 4% had no opinion.”
And, what Sistani thinks…
“Ahmed Al Safi, a senior aide of Ayatollah Sistani announced… that ‘Those who don’t participate in the elections will end up in hell’ and he added in his speech ‘We must bear the responsibility and we must all participate in the elections because it’s a patriotic duty and not doing so is like treason.’ He also denied the news that spread about Sistani preparing or supporting a particular list of candidates.”
Even editorial pages…
“But perhaps the most salient barometer of the ‘mood’ in Iraq can be found on the editorial pages of Iraq’s dailies. Commentaries overwhelmingly support the elections and offer intelligent and well-constructed viewpoints on a variety of election-related topics. Writers regularly demand that the Electoral Commission provide more information on the election process, and call on the Iraqi people to cast their ballots on election day.”Writers publishing in a variety of newspapers supporting divergent political positions appear to agree on one fact: elections should not be derailed by terrorism and instability. Most contributors have stressed the necessity of holding nationwide polling. But some writers support the idea that partial elections in stable areas would be better than no elections. ‘Attaining half or three-quarters of legitimacy, so to speak, is better than no legitimacy at all in order to respond to the doubters and silence the loud voices that keep accusing the government of treason and illegitimacy. They act as if the whole Arab world enjoys legitimacy and as if Iraq is the only exception in the region that has no legitimacy in the middle of [an] ocean of Arab legitimacy,’ Latif al-Subayhawi wrote in the 18 October edition of ‘Al-Dustur’.”
