In war of ideas human bomb attacks are loser

Washington Times:

Muslims around the world increasingly reject suicide bombings and other violence against civilians by those purporting to defend Islam, according to an international poll released yesterday.

A wide-ranging survey of international attitudes in 47 countries by the Pew Research Center also reported that in many of the countries where support for suicide attacks has declined, there also has been decreasing support for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The 95-page survey found that surging economic growth in many developing countries has encouraged residents to express satisfaction with their personal lives, family income and national conditions, said Andrew Kohut, the center's director.

"It's a pro-globalization set of findings," Mr. Kohut said.

Most notably, the survey found a large and growing number of Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere rejecting Islamic extremism. Ten mainly Muslim countries were surveyed along with the Palestinian territories, as well as five African nations with large Muslim populations.

For example, the percentage of Jordanian Muslims who have confidence in bin Laden as a world leader fell 36 percentage points to 20 percent since 2003, while the proportion who say suicide bombing is sometimes or always justified dropped 20 percentage points to 23 percent. Other countries where support for bin Laden declined are Lebanon, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait.

The report said support for suicide bombings and other terror tactics has dropped since 2002 in seven of the eight countries in which data were available. In Lebanon, the proportion of Muslims who say suicide attacks are often or sometimes justified fell to 34 percent from 79 percent, while just 9 percent of Pakistanis believe suicide bombings can be justified often or sometimes, down from 33 percent in 2002 and a high of 41 percent in 2004.

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It is surprising that this poll has not gotten more attention. Perhaps it is because the poll suggest that the Bush policies are winning and that al Qaeda is losing in the hearts and minds war in the Muslim world. That would be inconvenient for the meme being pushed by the media and the Democrats that we are doomed and that Bush policies are the reason. The poll is also consistent with what is happening in Iraq where people are turning on al Qaeda from all directions including some former members of al Qaeda who are disgusted with the depravity of the organization.