Pakistanis Increasingly Reject Terrorism... and the U.S.
by Richard Wike
Pew Research Group
As American leaders from George W. Bush to Barack Obama talk tough with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf about getting tough with al Qaeda, Pakistanis may feel torn between sympathy and outrage. On one hand, they increasingly reject terrorist tactics and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. But on the other, they continue to express both fear and loathing of the United States. Most Pakistanis fear the U.S. could become a military threat to their country, and despite their opposition to terrorism, few support the U.S.-led war on terror.
Support for Terror Drops
According to the recently released National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), Pakistan remains a safe haven and base of operations for al Qaeda. Nonetheless, public opinion in Pakistan has actually grown considerably less supportive of terrorism in recent years. In 2004, 41% of Pakistani Muslims said that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians were "often" or "sometimes justified" in order to defend Islam from its enemies, while only 35% felt that such attacks were never justified.1 Today, only 9% say suicide attacks are often or sometimes justified, while 72% say this kind of violence is never defensible (another 9% say they are "rarely" justified).
Similarly, support for Osama bin Laden has waned. In 2005, 51% of Pakistanis said they had a lot or some confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs. Now, confidence in the al Qaeda leader has fallen to 38% – still disturbingly high, but nonetheless a substantial decline in just two years.
Over the last few years, Pakistan has suffered a number of deadly terrorist attacks, including a series of suicide bombings in July, following a government raid on the Red Mosque, a militant Islamist stronghold in the capital city, Islamabad. More than three-in-four Pakistanis (76%) call terrorism a "very big problem" for the country. Among the 47 countries included in the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes survey, only Bangladeshis (77%) and Moroccans (81%) are more worried about terrorism. And in a 2006 Pew survey, 74% of Pakistanis said they were very or somewhat concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in their country – a higher level of concern than found in the other predominantly Muslim countries included in the survey: Jordan (69%), Egypt (68%), Turkey (46%), and Indonesia (43%).
(Continued here.)
Pew Research Group
As American leaders from George W. Bush to Barack Obama talk tough with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf about getting tough with al Qaeda, Pakistanis may feel torn between sympathy and outrage. On one hand, they increasingly reject terrorist tactics and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. But on the other, they continue to express both fear and loathing of the United States. Most Pakistanis fear the U.S. could become a military threat to their country, and despite their opposition to terrorism, few support the U.S.-led war on terror.
Support for Terror Drops
According to the recently released National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), Pakistan remains a safe haven and base of operations for al Qaeda. Nonetheless, public opinion in Pakistan has actually grown considerably less supportive of terrorism in recent years. In 2004, 41% of Pakistani Muslims said that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians were "often" or "sometimes justified" in order to defend Islam from its enemies, while only 35% felt that such attacks were never justified.1 Today, only 9% say suicide attacks are often or sometimes justified, while 72% say this kind of violence is never defensible (another 9% say they are "rarely" justified).
Similarly, support for Osama bin Laden has waned. In 2005, 51% of Pakistanis said they had a lot or some confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs. Now, confidence in the al Qaeda leader has fallen to 38% – still disturbingly high, but nonetheless a substantial decline in just two years.
Over the last few years, Pakistan has suffered a number of deadly terrorist attacks, including a series of suicide bombings in July, following a government raid on the Red Mosque, a militant Islamist stronghold in the capital city, Islamabad. More than three-in-four Pakistanis (76%) call terrorism a "very big problem" for the country. Among the 47 countries included in the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes survey, only Bangladeshis (77%) and Moroccans (81%) are more worried about terrorism. And in a 2006 Pew survey, 74% of Pakistanis said they were very or somewhat concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in their country – a higher level of concern than found in the other predominantly Muslim countries included in the survey: Jordan (69%), Egypt (68%), Turkey (46%), and Indonesia (43%).
(Continued here.)
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