The majority of respondents to the University of Maryland poll said that "they would like the Iraqi government to ask for U.S.-led forces to be withdrawn from Iraq within a year or less," according to the survey's summary.
"Given four options, 37 percent take the position that they would like U.S.-led forces withdrawn 'within six months,' while another 34 percent opt for 'gradually withdraw(ing) U.S.-led forces according to a one-year timeline.'
"Twenty percent favor a two-year timeline and just 9 percent favor 'only reduc(ing) U.S.-led forces as the security situation improves in Iraq.'"
The month's poll came in the midst of a turbulent year marked by increased Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence in Baghdad and elsewhere in the nation.
A U.S. commander said Wednesday that suicide attacks in Iraq are rising as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan gets under way. (Full story http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/27/iraq.main/index.html)
Majority favor attacks on U.S.
The poll's summary also suggests that most Iraqis think the American presence is doing more harm than good.
"An overwhelming majority believes that the U.S. military presence in Iraq is provoking more conflict than it is preventing and there is growing confidence in the Iraqi army," the summary said. "If the U.S. made a commitment to withdraw, a majority believes that this would strengthen the Iraqi government.
"Support for attacks on U.S.-led forces has grown to a majority position -- now 6 in 10. Support appears to be related to a widespread perception, held by all ethnic groups, that the U.S. government plans to have permanent military bases in Iraq."
The WorldPublicOpinion.org poll was conducted September 1-4 by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland. It was fielded by KA Research Ltd./D3 Systems Inc. Questions were asked of a nationwide representative sample of 1,150 Iraqi adults.
The report is at the Program on International Policy Attitudes Web site at: http://www.pipa.org/external link
The poll comes as lawmakers in Washington wrangle over a bleak National Intelligence Estimate that concludes the Iraq war has become a "cause celebre" for jihadists, who are growing in number and geographic reach.
The intelligence analysts who authored the report said the Iraq insurgency against U.S.-led forces was an "underlying factor" fueling the spread of Islamic radicalism.
(Full story http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/27/nie.iraq.ap/index.html)