Al Qaeda Down in the Polls

Karen P. Hughes

U.S. Undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs, Karen P. Hughes, writes a powerful opinion piece for the Washington Post today. In it, she points to a decreasing popularity for Al Qaeda in the Muslim World. Among the facts:

"Polls in the two nations that have suffered some of the worst of al-Qaeda's violence -- Afghanistan and Iraq -- show that more than 90 percent of those populations have unfavorable views of al-Qaeda and of bin Laden himself."

"Support for terrorist tactics has fallen in seven of the eight predominantly Muslim countries polled as part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project since 2002; in most cases, those declines have been dramatic. Five years ago in Lebanon, 74 percent of the population thought suicide bombing could sometimes be justified. Today it's 34 percent -- still too high, but a stark reversal. Similar declines in support have occurred in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Jordan."

Killing and maiming civilians for political goals is bad policy. Not that the nihilistic Al Qaeda follows their place in the polls, but their failure to gather support from the wider public bodes well for their demise.

By way of contrast, MNF Iraq has been first rate in protecting civilians. General David Petraeus has made security his number one priority. After a bloodbath at the hands of Al Qaeda and the sectarian militias, it is not surprising that the people in Iraq are rebelling against the rebellion.

Al Qaeda's views of God, religious standards and personal liberty are not that appealing. Throw in a car bomb and many dead families, and one can easily see that the terrorists days of fighting are numbered. Without public support, they are little more than violent criminals.