FATA Poll Reveals Support for Pakistan Army Action

[Mujahid]

WASHINGTON: The first comprehensive public opinion survey covering sensitive political issues in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan has come up with some startling findings. Conducted by The New America Foundation and Terror Free Tomorrow, the survey unsurprisingly reveals great hostility to the US drone strikes in the area but shows little sympathy for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and supports the anti-Taliban campaign conducted by the Pakistan Army.

The unprecedented survey, from June 30 to July 20, 2010, consisted of face-to-face interviews of 1,000 FATA residents age 18 or older across 120 villages/sampling points in all seven tribal Agencies of FATA. Funding for the poll was provided by the United States Institute of Peace, a congressionally funded think tank, which had no other role in the poll.

Nearly nine out every ten people in FATA oppose the U.S. military pursuing al-Qaeda and the Taliban in their region. Nearly 70 per cent of FATA residents instead want the Pakistani military alone to fight Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in the tribal areas.

The intensity of opposition to the American military is high. While only one in ten of FATA residents think suicide attacks are often or sometimes justified against the Pakistani military and police, almost six in ten believe these attacks are justified against the U.S. military.

More than three-quarters of FATA residents oppose American drone strikes. Indeed, only 16 per cent think these strikes accurately target militants; 48 per cent think they largely kill civilians and another 33 per cent feel they kill both civilians and militants.

A plurality of FATA residents consider the United States to be the party most responsible for the violence that is occurring in their region today. Nearly 80 per cent of the people in FATA also oppose the U.S.-led “war on terror,” and believe its real purpose is to weaken and divide the Islamic world, while ensuring American domination. Only 10 per cent thought the U.S. was motivated to defeat Al-Qaeda and its allies. Similarly, three-quarters of FATA residents thought that the continuing American occupation of Afghanistan was because of its larger war on Islam or part of an effort to secure oil and minerals in the region. 11 per cent said it was because of the 9/11 attacks, and just 5 per cent to prevent the Taliban from returning to power.

Opposition to American policies in the region does not mean, however, that the people of FATA embrace either Al-Qaeda or the Taliban. More than three-quarters of FATA residents oppose the presence inside their region of Al-Qaeda and over two-thirds the Pakistan Taliban (60 per cent oppose the Afghan Taliban led by Mullah Omar). Indeed, if Al-Qaeda or the Pakistani Taliban were on the ballot in an election, less than one per cent of FATA residents said they would vote for either group.

What is interesting about the findings, however, is that the intense opposition to the U.S. military and the drone programme is not based on general anti-American feelings. Almost three-quarters of the people inside the tribal regions said that their opinion of the United States would improve if the U.S. increased visas for FATA residents and educational scholarships to America, withdrew the American military from Afghanistan or brokered a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians. A majority even said their opinions of the U.S. would improve a great deal. Two-thirds said that policies such as American aid for education and medical care would improve their opinions as well.

While the United States’ military, as well as Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters, enjoy little popular support in the region, the people overwhelmingly support the Pakistani Army. Nearly 70 per cent back the Pakistani military pursuing Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Tribal Areas. By a significant margin, the most popular individual among the people of FATA is General Ashfaq ParvezKayani, the Pakistani Army Chief of Staff. And even though American drone attacks are strongly opposed, the public’s approval of the drones programme actually almost splits even if those attacks were carried out by the Pakistani military instead. Indeed, when asked how FATA should be governed, 79 percent say it should be governed by the Pakistani military, followed by FATA becoming a separate province of Pakistan (70 per cent). Becoming part of Afghanistan was the most unpopular choice.

Unemployment is very high in FATA, with only 20 per cent of respondents in our survey saying they were working full-time. Indeed, lack of jobs was chosen as the most important problem in the region by 95 per cent of those surveyed. This was closely followed by lack of schools, good roads and security, poor health care and corruption of local official officials. Lesser problems to be addressed in descending order of importance were: drone attacks, Taliban and foreign fighters and problems involving refugees.

Despite the reputation that the people in FATA are socially conservative, nine out of every ten people identified lack of education and schools as their most important problem. Indeed, building new schools was chosen as a high priority for both boys and girls.

In terms of administering justice in the tribal regions, the least popular option was having justice delivered by the Taliban, with only 12 per cent believing this to be very important. By contrast, nearly two-thirds chose be governed by local tribal leaders.

Courtesy: The News, Pakistan