Iraqis on their friends & enemies
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3D2954716&page=3D4
IRAN, et. al. =97 For all their internal problems, Iraqis seem to feel, =
as well, largely friendless among their immediate neighbors. Seventy- =
one percent think neighboring Shiite Iran is actively engaged in =
encouraging sectarian violence in Iraq. Sixty-six percent suspect the =
same of Syria; 56 percent, of Saudi Arabia.
There are big doctrinal differences. Iraqi Sunnis (Arabs and Kurds =
alike) are more apt to suspect Iran, which is mainly Shiite. But =
Iraqi Shiites almost unanimously suspect the Sunni kingdom of Saudi =
Arabia of the same kind of activities. And Iraqi Kurds and Shiites =
alike, but fewer Sunni Arabs, think Syria is sowing violence.
It’s a web of suspicion; what’s notable, though, is that even among =
Shiites, nearly half suspect Iran of fomenting Iraq’s current violence.
Another result indicates how Iraqis are feeling friendless more =
broadly; it asked whether these plus other countries =97 Russia, =
Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom =97 are playing a =
positive, negative or neutral role in Iraq. No more than 20 percent =
see any of these seven countries as a positive force. Rated worst =
were the United States and the United Kingdom, seen by 77 percent and =
75 percent, respectively, as playing a negative role in Iraq.