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Most people 'want Iraq pull-out'
BBC
Friday September 7, 2007
Most people across the world believe US-led forces should withdraw
from Iraq within a year, a BBC poll suggests.
Some 39% of people in 22 countries said troops should leave now,
and 28% backed a gradual pull-out. Just 23% wanted them to stay
until Iraq was safe.
In the US, one-in-four supported an immediate withdrawal, while
32% wanted Iraq's security issues to be resolved before bringing
the troops home.
The BBC World Service commissioned the survey of 23,193 people.
In the survey, people were asked whether coalition troops should
pull out of Iraq immediately, commit to a gradual withdrawal over
a year, or leave when the security situation improves.
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In 19 countries, the majority of those questioned believed troops
should be withdrawn either immediately or within a year.
Just three countries - Kenya, the Philippines and India - did
not have an overall majority favouring withdrawal within a year.
Large numbers of people questioned in India (36%) declined to
comment or said they "didn't know".
Muslim countries including Indonesia (65%), Turkey (64%) and
Egypt (58%) were among those most eager for troops to be withdrawn
immediately.
But an immediate pull-out was much less popular in Australia
(22%), the US (24%) and UK (27%) - the countries with most troops
deployed in Iraq.
Troop cuts
The top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is considering
withdrawing about 4,000 troops starting in January, media reports
say.
The pull-out of one brigade would only take place if it did not
threaten "recent gains" made by US forces following the
troop surge that was completed in June, the New York Times reports,
quoting senior US government and military officials.
Officials say Gen Petraeus will discuss possible further troop
cuts to be made in 2008, when he presents his assessment of US
military strategy in Iraq to Congress next week.
There are a record 168,000 US troops in Iraq, including 30,000
additional soldiers deployed as part of the "surge".
The US completed the introduction of 30,000 more troops in Iraq
in mid-June.
'Permanent presence'
An Iraqi minister said the most vital need is help from Iraq's
neighbours.
"Getting out of Iraq now probably the situation will be
worsened; but, if our neighbouring countries ceased involving
themselves in Iraq, probably the situation will be improved definitely,"
Education Minister Abid Dhyab al-Ajili told the BBC.
"So it depends on our neighbouring countries. Definitely
I feel, if the American troops pulled out of Iraq, I think the
situation will be improved in the long term."
In recent days, leaders from the US, Australia and the UK have
said troops must stay in Iraq until the country is safe.
All three countries say they have a commitment to the Iraqi people
to remain there until local forces are able to ensure their security.
But Doug Miller of Globescan, which carried out the research,
said the results of the survey showed "the weight of global
public opinion" was against them.
The respondents were also asked whether they believed the US
would leave a permanent military presence in Iraq.
Half of those questioned believed the US would have bases in
Iraq permanently, while 36% assumed all troops would withdraw
once Iraq was stabilised.
The findings suggest support for keeping foreign troops in Iraq
until security has improved has fallen significantly since an
earlier World Service poll released in February 2006.
The BBC's world affairs correspondent, Nick Childs, says it is
not surprising, more than four years on from a controversial invasion,
that international public opinion on the foreign troop presence
should now be so negative.
He added that the Bush administration has been battling perceptions
that its aim has been to establish a permanent military presence
in Iraq as part of a regional strategy - something it has denied.
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