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A library photo of an anti-Iraq war in front of the White House. (Reuters)
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LONDON,
February 28, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Most people
in 33 out of 35 countries worldwide believe that the US-led invasion
of Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism, a survey for BBC World
Service radio suggested on Tuesday, February 28.
An
average of 60 percent in the 33 nations agreed that the March 2003
invasion had increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks, with just
12 percent believing the opposite, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
A
further 15 percent thought it had no effect, according to the survey
of 41,856 people by Canadian pollsters GlobeScan and the US Program on
International Policy Attitudes (PIPA).
In
Britain, 77 percent of those questioned thought the terrorist threat
had risen since the war, with 55 percent in the United States and 75
percent in Iraq saying likewise.
China
topped the list at 85 percent, followed by South Korea (84 percent)
and Egypt (83 percent).
PIPA
director Steven Kull said that though the Bush administration tried to
propagate the war as part of terror fighting, "all around the
world most people view it as having increased the likelihood of
terrorist attacks."
"The
near unanimity of this assessment among countries is remarkable in
public opinion polling," he told AFP.
Experts
and politicians in Europe have said that the Iraq
invasion-turned-occupation has fuelled home-grown terrorism.
The
London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs has said that
the war gave a momentum to Al-Qaeda's recruitment and fundraising and
made Britain, the subject of an odious terrorist attack in July that
killed 52 people, more vulnerable to terror attacks.
A
would-be London bomber told investigators that he and three fellows
were motivated by the Iraq war and not by religious fervor, denying
any Al-Qaeda link.
US
Pullout
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"The near unanimity of this assessment among countries is remarkable in public opinion polling," said Kull.
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The
BBC survey also showed that there was overall support in 20 countries
for US forces to withdraw in the next few months.
But
respondents in 21 countries appeared in favor of troops staying in the
region until stability is achieved, if the new Iraqi government
requested it.
With
the American death toll at more than 2,200 and Democrats openly
questioning the administration's case for war and its progress, US
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced on December 23 scaling
back troops by 2,000 servicemen in 2006.
The
respected International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank said in a report
released on Monday, February 27, that the US-led troops in Iraq should
explicitly state its intention to withdraw all its troops from Iraq.
The
group, however, warned that any drawdown should be gradual and take
into account progress in standing up self-sustaining, non-sectarian
Iraqi security forces as well as in promoting an inclusive political
process, sounding the alarm over the spat of sectarian killings after
last Wednesday's bombing of a Shiite shrine.
A
total of 329 bodies have been received by the Baghdad morgue since the
bombing, which triggered reprisals against the Sunnis, the morgue's
deputy director told AFP on Tuesday.
Mistake
The
BBC poll further showed that respondents in 21 countries thought the
removal of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was a mistake.
In
Britain, which backed the US-led war and still has about 8,000 troops
in southern Iraq, 40 percent thought removing Saddam was a mistake.
The
figure was 32 and 23 in the US and Iraq respectively.
Strongest
support for toppling Saddam came from Iraqi respondents (74 percent),
Brazil and Poland (65 percent), the United States (60 percent) and
Britain (49 percent).
Overall,
45 percent were against removing him from power while 36 percent
supported the action.
Greatest
criticism of the move came from Argentina (74 percent), with strong
opposition from Spain (65 percent) and Germany (61 percent).
Bush
invaded Iraq in March 2003 on the grounds that Saddam had weapons of
mass destruction.
A
recent US presidential report revealed that the United States was "dead
wrong" on Iraq’s alleged WMDs and its officials
made the case for invading the oil-rich country despite intelligence
doubts and strong voices of dissent.
Former
US Secretary of State Colin Powell regretted his UN statement making
the case for the US-led Iraq invasion, saying it was a
"blot" on his record.
A
new CBS News poll released on Tuesday showed that more Americans are
pessimistic about the Iraqi situation than ever.
Sixty-two
percent of Americans felt things were going badly against 36 percent
who said they were going well.
And
in another record, Americans who thought the results of the Iraq war
were not worth the cost rose to 63 percent, against 29 percent who
thought the opposite.
