Bush, Iraq, and popularity

In the next to last paragraph story entitled NBC Office In Baghdad Is Bombed, which appears deep into the front section and does not make the top page of its website, the Washington Post reports this bit of news:

A Gallup poll of 1,178 Baghdad adults offered a rare scientific sampling of popular sentiment here. The poll, conducted Aug. 28 through Sept. 4, found that 62 percent of those responding said removing Hussein was worth the hardships that have followed. About half said the country was worse off than before the U.S. invasion, but two-thirds said they believed Iraq would be better off in five years than it was before the war.

One might think this would get more prominent billing, given that it suggests that Iraqis have a more positive view of events than is commonly credited. In fact, if one assumes that those who favored removing Saddam Hussein thereby implicitly approve of President Bush, his approval rating among Iraqis is higher than it is among Americans. Of course, with the Democrats now firmly locked into attacks against each other, see especially the Gephardt attack site www.deanfacts.com, that number may change soon enough.
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:17 AM