12 September 2007

The hearts and minds campaign might need a surge

A non profit organisation called Terror Free Tomorrow has released the results of a recent survey of public opinion in Pakistan. From a Western perspective I don't think that the results can be perceived as favourable.
  • 74% oppose US forces pursuing al Qaeda or the Taliban on Pakistani soil.
  • 33% approve of al Qaeda v 43% who oppose it.
  • Support for the Taliban is even with exactly 38% approving of and opposing the Afghan group.
  • Support for local Islamic extremist groups ranges from 37% to 49% whilst opposition to the same ranges from 24% to 29%.
  • Approval ratings for various leaders say a lot as 46% view Osama bin Laden favourably, 38% view President Musharraf favourably, 3% view Captain Codpiece favourably, 63% view former PM Benazir Bhutto favourably and 57% view former PM Nawaz Sharif favourably.
The news gets worse from there.

The complete poll (PDF) is to be found here.

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