Poll: Most Iraqis favor U.S. pullout in a year

Amazing how CNN just came out with this poll here:

(CNN) -- Seventy-one percent of Iraqis responding to a new survey favor a commitment by U.S.-led forces in Iraq to withdraw in a year.

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to the University of Maryland poll said that "they would like the Iraqi government to ask for U.S.-led forces to be withdrawn from Iraq within a year or less," according to the survey's summary.

"Given four options, 37 percent take the position that they would like U.S.-led forces withdrawn 'within six months,' while another 34 percent opt for 'gradually withdraw(ing) U.S.-led forces according to a one-year timeline.'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.

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.

Does this sound familiar? Surprise--this poll has been out for almost two weeks now--I've even reported the poll results in my own blog posting here, and through a cross-post on The Daily Kos here. Of course, one interesting aspect here is that World Public Opinion has released the full report of the poll here. And I will say that it is interesting that CNN has published a story on this poll just three days after the NIE story broke out, showing the rise of Islamic extremism. In one sense, both stories complement each other. The NIE story clearly shows what a disaster the U.S. war in Iraq has become in fueling anti-American extremism and global terrorism, while this World Public Opinion story shows how the Iraqis want the U.S. out of their country and clearly support terror attacks against the U.S. occupation forces. Both stories certainly contradict the Bush administration's PR-spin on the Iraq war.

I wonder if the American people are starting to listen here.