Hussein Trial to Resume Under Tight Security

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants, charged with crimes against humanity, is scheduled to resume Dec. 5 in Baghdad under tight security.

A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Nov. 11-13, shows that nearly three out of four Americans (72%) would favor the death penalty for Hussein, should he be found guilty, while 25% would oppose such a sentence. This is similar to the results from a June poll, in which 71% of Americans favored the death penalty for Hussein, while 24% opposed it. By way of comparison, 64% of Americans in Gallup's Oct. 13-16 poll favored the death penalty for American defendants convicted of murder.

The charges against Hussein stem from mass executions carried out in 1982 in the Iraqi town of Dujail. More than 140 people were sentenced to death and still more imprisoned and tortured following an assassination attempt on Hussein. The trial could be the first of several for Hussein.

As with many aspects of the situation in Iraq, there is a degree of polarization among Americans on the issue. However, this aspect appears to have only minimal disagreement: 86% of those who approve of President Bush's handling of the Iraq situation favor the death penalty for Hussein, as do 63% of those who disapprove of Bush's approach. From a slightly different perspective, 63% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents favor Hussein's execution if he is found guilty, compared with 81% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.

Would a Conviction Hurt Iraqi Insurgents?

Each passing day brings more news reports of insurgent attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, and Bush has said that setting a schedule for troop withdrawal would only embolden the insurgents.

Would a conviction and the resulting execution of Hussein undermine the insurgency? A majority of Americans do not think so. Three out of four (75%) say Hussein's execution would not weaken the insurgents, while just 22% say the insurgency would be weakened.

Here, there are partisan differences as well, but even a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (56%) say executing Hussein would not weaken the insurgency. This rises to 86% among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,006 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Nov. 11-13, 2005. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. For results based on the 491 national adults in the Form A half-sample and the 515 national adults in the Form B half-sample, the maximum margins of sampling error are ±5 percentage points. 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.

Thinking for a moment about the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein,

Q.22-23 SPLIT SAMPLED

22. If Saddam Hussein is found guilty of serious crimes during his trial, would you favor or oppose the death penalty for him?

BASED ON 491 NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM A

23. If Saddam Hussein is found guilty and executed under the death penalty, do you think that will weaken the insurgents who are fighting U.S. troops in Iraq, or not?

BASED ON 515 NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM B