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British, Italians, Spanish Oppose U.S. Attack to Oust Saddam Hussein

British, Italians, Spanish Oppose U.S. Attack to Oust Saddam Hussein

Canadians, Americans give majority support

by David W. Moore

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Recent polls in five countries -- the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Italy and Spain -- reveal major differences in the countries' reactions to a possible U.S. attack on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power. While majorities of Canadians and Americans would support such a military effort, people in the other three countries are opposed, by margins of 10 to 19 percentage points.

Would you favor or oppose sending American ground troops (the United States sending ground troops) to the Persian Gulf in an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq?

In two countries with large margins of opposition, Italy and Spain, there are large minorities who express no opinion.

A separate question shows that in four of the countries, support for ongoing U.S. military action in Afghanistan is higher than support for a future U.S. attack on Iraq. In Britain, a clear majority of people approve of U.S. operations in Afghanistan, despite majority opposition to an attack on Iraq. In Canada and the United States, the majorities in support of current actions in Afghanistan are much higher than support for a possible effort to oust Saddam Hussein. Italians are about evenly divided on U.S. actions in Afghanistan, while they show a 13-point margin of opposition to an attack on Iraq. Only in Spain is opposition to an attack on Iraq, by a margin of 19 points, exceeded by the people's opposition to U.S. actions in Afghanistan (by a larger margin of 24 percentage points).

Do you approve or disapprove of U.S. military action in Afghanistan?

In four of the countries, people's views about specific military action appear closely related to their evaluation of "President George W. Bush's policies to deal with the threat of terrorism." Large majorities in the United States and Canada approve of Bush's policies, while people are about evenly divided between approval and disapproval in Britain and Italy. In Spain, however, 51% approve and just 29% disapprove, countering their more negative assessments of U.S. military action in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Do you approve or disapprove of (United States President) George W. Bush's policies to deal with the threat of terrorism?

It is not clear why the Spanish appear so contradictory in their responses, but their support of Bush and opposition to U.S. military action in the Middle East may reflect their own turbulent 32-year experience with the Basque separatist movement, accompanied by terrorist acts from an organization known as ETA. The poll in Spain shows that 20% of Spanish people say it is "very" likely that there will be further acts of terrorism over the next several weeks, and another 42% say "somewhat" likely. In this case, the people are referring to terrorism from ETA, rather than from Islamic groups, as ETA announced last spring it would engage in a series of violent acts against Spanish resorts. Police blame ETA for a string of recent car bombings in Spain, to include one as recent as Aug. 4.

Expectations of terrorism are somewhat lower in the United States, where 12% of the people say it is "very" likely and another 48% say "somewhat" likely that there will be further terrorist acts in the next several weeks. In Britain, the total saying very or somewhat likely is 41%, compared with 60% in the United States and 62% in Spain. By contrast, only 17% of Italians and 7% of Canadians expect terrorist attacks in their countries within the next several weeks.

How likely is it that there will be further acts of terrorism in [INSERT NAME OF COUNTRY] over the next several weeks -- very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not at all likely?

One interesting note: Canadians were also asked the likelihood of further terrorist attacks in the United States. While they are more likely to expect such attacks to occur in the United States than in Canada, they are much less likely than Americans to say there will be attacks in the United States. Just 39% of Canadians, compared with 60% of Americans, expect attacks in the United States -- 8% who say "very" and 31% "somewhat" likely.

Muslims Not at War With Canada, Great Britain, Italy or Spain -- Just the United States

Respondents in each country were asked if the Muslim world considered itself at war with the respective country. Only in the United States does a majority say yes -- and by a two-to-one margin, 60% to 33%. In Great Britain, 38% say the Muslim world is at war with Britain, but a majority, 54%, disagrees. In the other three countries, very large majorities say the Muslim world is not at war with their countries.

Do you think the Muslim world considers itself at war with [INSERT NAME OF COUNTRY], or not?

Whatever the differences in views on other matters, there is considerable agreement among the people in the five countries on what has happened to individual rights and freedoms in their countries since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11 of last year. Majorities in all countries say there has been no change. Among those who say there has been a change, in all countries the percentages of people saying rights and freedoms have suffered are much greater than the percentages saying they have gotten better.

Since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11th last year, do you think that individual rights and freedoms in [INSERT NAME OF COUNTRY] have -- [ROTATED: gotten better, stayed about the same, or gotten worse]?

One final question on the five polls asked respondents whether their sympathies in the Middle East were more with the Israelis or the Palestinians. A Gallup Poll in nine predominantly Islamic countries, conducted last December and January, showed that much Islamic discontent with the United States revolved around respondents' view that the United States was unfair toward Arabs in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The new poll results show the decided bias of the American people for the Israelis, while respondents in the other four countries either have a more even-handed view or have a pro-Palestinian bias. The United States shows a 33 percentage-point advantage toward the Israelis (47% to 14%), while there is a 19-point advantage to the Palestinians in Spain, a 7-point advantage to the Palestinians in both Italy and Great Britain, and a 4-point advantage to the Israelis in Canada. In the United States, only 39% express no preference in sympathies for either side of the conflict, while that number is slightly higher in Canada (43%), even higher in Great Britain (49%), and reaches the two-thirds level in Italy (67%) and Spain (69%).

In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?

Survey Methods

The results reported here are based on polls in five countries as noted below.

Results in the United States are based on telephone interviews with 1,003 national adults, aged 18+, conducted Sept. 2-4, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. The survey was conducted by the CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll.

 

Results in Canada are based on telephone interviews with 1,003 national adults, aged 18+, conducted Aug. 21-27, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. The survey was conducted by Gallup Canada.

Results in Great Britain are based on telephone interviews with 502 national adults, aged 18+, conducted Aug. 20-Sept. 2, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points. The survey was conducted by Gallup UK.

 

Results in Italy are based on telephone interviews with 979 national adults, aged 18+, conducted Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. The survey was conducted by DOXA S.p.A.

 

Results in Spain are based on telephone interviews with 507 national adults, aged 18+, conducted Sept. 2-4, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points. The survey was conducted by Gallup Spain.

 

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

How likely is it that there will be further acts of terrorism in [INSERT NAME OF COUNTRY] over the next several weeks -- very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not at all likely?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Very likely

1%

13%

2%

20%

12%

Somewhat likely

6

28

15

42

48

Not too likely

39

39

40

16

28

Not at all likely

52

16

38

9

9

No opinion

1

4

5

13

3

Total

99%*

100%

100%

100%

100%

*Percentages do not add to 100% due to rounding.



 

 

How likely is it that there will be further acts of terrorism in the United States over the next several weeks -- very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not at all likely?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Very likely

8%

--

--

--

12%

Somewhat likely

31

--

--

--

48

Not too likely

40

--

--

--

28

Not at all likely

19

--

--

--

9

No opinion

3

--

--

--

3

Total

101%*

--

--

--

100%

*Percentages do not add to 100% due to rounding.



 

 

Do you approve or disapprove of (United States President) George W. Bush's policies to deal with the threat of terrorism?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Approve

61%

45%

41%

51%

76%

Disapprove

32

49

44

29

18

No opinion

7

6

15

20

6

Total

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%



Do you approve or disapprove of U.S. military action in Afghanistan?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Approve

68%

57%

42%

26%

83%

Disapprove

28

36

45

50

13

No opinion

5

8

13

24

4

Total

101%*

101%*

100%

100%

100%

*Percentages do not add to 100% due to rounding.



Would you favor or oppose sending American ground troops (the United States sending ground troops) to the Persian Gulf in an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Favor

52%

42%

36%

29%

58%

Oppose

43

52

49

48

36

No opinion

5

6

15

24

6

Total

100%

100%

100%

101%*

100%

*Percentages do not add to 100% due to rounding.



And would you favor or oppose the United Kingdom sending its ground troops to the Persian Gulf in an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Favor

--

36%

--

--

--

Oppose

--

59

--

--

--

No opinion

--

5

--

--

--

Total

--

100%

--

--

--



Do you think the Muslim world considers itself at war with [INSERT NAME OF COUNTRY], or not?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Yes, is at war

14%

38%

24%

15%

60%

No, is not at war

82

54

66

68

33

No opinion

4

9

10

16

7

Total

100%

101%*

100%

99%*

100%

*Percentages do not add to 100% due to rounding.



Since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11th last year, do you think that individual rights and freedoms in [INSERT NAME OF COUNTRY] have -- [ROTATED: gotten better, stayed about the same, or gotten worse]?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Gotten better

5%

5%

7%

5%

11%

Stayed the same

71

69

59

67

58

Gotten worse

22

22

28

19

30

No opinion

1

4

6

9

1

Total

99%*

100%

100%

100%

100%

*Percentages do not add to 100% due to rounding.



In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?

 


Canada

Great
Britain


Italy


Spain

United
States

Israelis

30%

22%

13%

6%

47%

Palestinians

26

29

20

25

14

BOTH (vol.)

6

6

11

18

6

NEITHER (vol.)

18

21

43

34

19

No opinion

19

22

13

17

14

Total

99%*

100%

100%

100%

100%

*Percentages do not add to 100% due to rounding.

(Vol.) Volunteered response




Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/6751/British-Italians-Spanish-Oppose-US-Attack-Oust-Saddam-Hussein.aspx
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