The War on Error: the Pew Global Attitudes Survey 2007

So the Pew Global Attitudes Project released its 2007 Survey (pdf) this week, with some interesting results. Not that interesting, though, which is why they specifically focused on the questions around the “Sharp Decline in Support for Suicide Bombing in Muslim Countries”. Sing it, Pew!

Among the most striking trends in predominantly Muslim nations is the continuing decline in the number saying that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are justifiable in the defense of Islam. In Lebanon, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia, the proportion of Muslims who view suicide bombing and other attacks against civilians as being often or sometimes justified has declined by half or more over the past five years.

This is obviously good news, not least because it makes the pig-ignorant bigots at sites like Little Green Footballs look like - well, pig-ignorant bigots, except more so. As far as they’re concerned, every Muslim is a suicide bomb waiting to happen - but these are the kinds of people that think that nuking Mecca is a reasonable policy option, so it’s better just to avoid catching their eye and hope that something shiny distracts them.

However it’s also slightly startling because it suggests - along with the dwindling support for Osama bin Laden that is also reported - that the US might be winning some of those hearts and minds that they’re always going on about. Oh no, wait:

Publics in predominantly Muslim countries in Asia also are inclined to see the United States as a threat. The United States is cited most often as a major threat in Bangladesh (72%), Pakistan (64%), Indonesia (63%) and Malaysia (46%). In the Middle East, respondents in Turkey, a NATO ally, also are fearful of the United States. Nearly two-thirds in that country (64%) say the United States poses a great threat to their country.

I have no idea what the US ever did to Bangladesh that they hate them so. The news that Turkey thinks the US poses such a great threat might also explain why Turkey is the only Muslim country surveyed in which the % supporting suicide bombing has risen - I’m guessing they just said it to piss the US off. In any case, the general drop in support for suicide bombing appears to have nothing to do with US efforts - military or otherwise. Oh well.

The Canute in this tide of good news is the Palestinian Territories where - guess what - 70% believe that suicide bombing is often or sometimes justified. It’s worked well for them so far, I guess they want to capitalise on that. Idiots. This, unfortunately, is what happens when you turn a senseless act of violence into a core part of your culture, as my friend Gary Cohen recently observed in his documentary Judah and Mohammad (which all of you should watch if you get the chance, it’s great).

Let’s look at that wording again, though:

Q.72 ASK MUSLIMS ONLY: Some people think that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are justified in order to defend Islam from its enemies. Other people believe that, no matter what the reason, this kind of violence is never justified. Do you personally feel that this kind of violence is often justified to defend Islam, sometimes justified, rarely justified, or never justified?

How interesting that this question only applies to Muslims, and what an interesting way to phrase it. Now I don’t want anybody to get the impression that I’m biased in any way, but it would have been very interesting to pose the following question to citizens of the coalition of the willing:

Q.72 Some people think that collateral damage and other forms of violence against civilian targets are justified in order to defend democracy from its enemies. Other people believe that, no matter what the reason, this kind of violence is never justified. Do you personally feel that this kind of violence is often justified to defend democracy, sometimes justified, rarely justified, or never justified?

I do not equate suicide bombing with collateral damage, but we’re not talking about the intentions of the killers themselves here, we’re talking about civilian support for the principle that civilians are fair game in these ideological wars. It’s a shame that such a question wasn’t asked, because I think the level of tolerance for civilian casualties would be surprisingly high - perhaps as high as the figures cited for support to suicide bombing.

Obviously there’s a lot more in the survey than that, but frankly you can read it yourself if you’re that interested.