Public Opinion in Pakistan’s Tribal Regions

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

BTW there is one person based in US who is stanched anti-Pakistan Army and spares any chance to spit venom against Pakistan army.

According to him she is a convert

Could you elaborate a bit please?

 

[Spring Onion]

I forgot to mention that NO ONE IN tribal areas are supporting drone attacks. Its unfortunate they dont have any choice to migrate to other areas.

Their houses, shops. trade everything has been destroyed by these drones.

Some Pro-Russian Pukhtun Afghan groupies (most of them are either based in EU or US, west or richies in Pakistan) were jumping in glee over these drone attacks but common tribesmen are NOT at all supporting these.


I am also failed to understand this bakwas of carrying operations in Pakistan when Pentagon, US, Karzai are holding talks with Taliban including Haqqani group.

And people beware the Pro-Russia Afghanistanis have started a propaganda that talks were a Must for peace with Mullah Omar and other Taliban and Pakistan was opposing it.

It is such a sissy attitude by them that suddenly Taliban have become innocents for these Afghanistanis whereas sometime back when Pakistan was talking about negotiations then these people used to say we are siding with terrorists.

 

[Patriot]

Farhat Taj is without a doubt a traitor regardless of her religious affiliation.

 

[Spring Onion]

Farhat Taj is without a doubt a traitor regardless of her religious affiliation.

What do you think why US has spent so much on her training in shape of scholarship

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

The organization that conducted the polling on behalf of the TFT/NAF is CAMP (Community Appraisal and Motivation Program), and it has been active in polling FATA for a while now.

The following link goes to their site where they have the 'Understanding FATA' series, Volumes I, II and III. Apparently volume IV is in the works.

Understanding FATA Series | CAMP

 

[fatman17]

67% want military operation in North Waziristan: poll

* CAMP survey shows 64.2% have unfavourable opinion about Taliban while 36.2% believe Afghan Taliban are terrorists

* 89.1% say Afghan refugees should go back

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: Military will find increased support from the people in case it goes for an operation against the Haqqani network in North Waziristan, a recent opinion poll suggests.

“Support for military operations against militants increased dramatically over the last year. In 2009, only 16.8 percent respondents supported the army/security forces operation in Swat but this year 66.8 percent of the respondents supported the operation,” the opinion poll - Understanding FATA - by Community Appraisal and motivation Programme revealed.

Naveed Shinwari, chief executive of Islamabad-based non-governmental organisation CAMP, released the annual opinion poll on Tuesday in the federal capital, which did not attract much media attention.

Pressure mounts on Islamabad to go for action against safe-havens of al Qaeda, Haqqani network and Pakistani Taliban as American top general in Afghanistan Gen David Petraeus visited Islamabad on Monday and Admiral Mike Mullen followed to press military operation in North Waziristan.

Shinwari believed “success of the Swat military offensive and the repatriation of over two million internally displaced people (IDPs) to Swat moulded opinion (of tribal people) in favour of the military offensive”.

The support for military offensive against Taliban comes from IDPs, according to the opinion poll. “Approximately, 25 percent of the respondents had been displaced people. This condition significantly influenced their opinions on military strategies and the use of drones; they generally support these operations more than do the non-displaced in their respective agencies in the tribal areas,” it read.

While support for military operation grew considerably in the last one year, the support for Taliban, meanwhile, declined, the opinion poll found. “Two-thirds of the respondents, 64.2 percent, have unfavourable opinions about Pakistani Taliban while only 36.2 percent believe that Afghan Taliban are terrorists. The idea that the Afghan Taliban are Islamic heroes, who are fighting against Western occupation forces in Afghanistan, has dropped from 40.35 percent in 2009 to 20.2 percent in 2010 poll.”

The opinion poll found 42.7 percent respondents believed that foreign militant in their areas should be “forced to leave by the Pakistan Army; 25.3 percent think that they should be asked to leave by host communities; and only 2.7 percent said that they should be allowed to stay.”

Overwhelming respondents felt that Afghan refugees should go back to their country of origin. “An overwhelming 89.1 percent said they should (go back to Afghanistan). This is an upward change in sentiments since 2008.”

On the justification of US drone attacks in the Tribal Areas, the 2010 data shows that 58.8 percent of the respondents believe that such attacks are ‘never justified’. Only 24.4 percent of the respondents opined “in a qualified manner” that sometimes these attacks “are justified if they are properly targeted and excessive civilian casualties are avoided” while 4.4 percent believe that such drone attacks are “always justified”.

However, when examined by agency the variation of the ‘never’ category ranges from 99.3 percent in North Waziristan to 12.9 percent in Kurram region, which is facing sectarian violence.

the issue is not why or when the PA will commence its ops in NWA. the issue is that once it 'clears and holds' the area, there is no 'rehab and reconstruct' effort by the civilian govt - this task has also been left to the army which is 'reluctantly' undertaking this task. talking to officers who are involved, they comment that they have to 'clear and hold' the same areas many times over (which is demotivating) and the civilian govt as stated earlier continues to 'drag its feet' in the reconstruction effort!!! - it is going to be a 'long haul' this WoT.

 

[GentlemanObserver]

64.2% have unfavourable opinion about Taliban

Smash this in the face of those who say Pakistani condone terrorism.

 

[PAFAce]

fatman, I can't thank you enough for this. I have been looking for a survey of this type for so long, and never came across this. Brilliant stuff.

Here's where you can find the full report:
http://www.understandingfata.org/files/Understanding-FATA-Vol-IV.pdf

Edit
I wish they would have asked if Drone Strikes would be more favorable if they were conducted by Pakistani forces instead of foreigners.

We need more surveys of this type in every province, especially Balochistan, GB and AJK.

waaoohh!!!!, more raids more IDPs more destruction in the waiting list???

InshaAllah that won't be necessary. The area is under the control of the forces now. The IDP situation was created because our forces were trying to clear the area and move in, and civilian casualties could have been high. This time along, the area is being helf by the FC and surrounded by the Army, it will be difficult for the Taliban to confront them directly. Civilian bombings will probably be their weapon of choice.

 

[SMC]

This is a big slap in the face of those who do propaganda about Pakistan (mostly from across the border but some from elsewhere too).

 

[GUNNER]

U.S. wants Pakistan tribal invasion, but will wait

(Reuters) - The United States ambassador to Pakistan Friday said Washington understands that Pakistan's military is stretched too invade North Waziristan at the moment, but is confident the operation eventually will happen.

Ambassador Cameron Munter emphasized in a news conference at the U.S. embassy that Pakistan's tackling of the militant sanctuaries on the Pakistan side of the border -- considered crucial for stabilizing Afghanistan -- was a matter of capacity and not of will.

"Yes, I believe that," he said when asked whether the United States believed the Pakistanis were sincere about going after the safe havens used by militants for years as places to rest and re-arm after carrying out attacks on Western forces.

"There is a great amount of capacity being used at holding the ground the Pakistani Army has won at great cost," said Munter.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that Pakistan needed to do more to control the flow of extremists along its porous border with Afghanistan. Pakistan says it will invade North Waziristan, but on its own schedule.

On one hand, officials in Washington say Pakistan has to do more to go after groups such as the Haqqanis. On the other, Munter and other officials are publicly reluctant to press too much because Pakistan could make life difficult for NATO, as it did in October when it closed down a vital supply route for 10 days because of a coalition helicopter incursion that killed two Pakistani troops.

"We would like them to move tomorrow, we would like them to take out these people tomorrow," said Munter. "But we understand they're telling us honestly about the capacity of their military, and when they are able, we are convinced they will move in."

U.S. wants Pakistan tribal invasion, but will wait | Reuters

 

[GUNNER]

Edit
I wish they would have asked if Drone Strikes would be more favorable if they were conducted by Pakistani forces instead of foreigners.

There was one survey recently which asked this question. And the answer was a BIG YES.

It was posted by someone on this forum as well, perhaps you missed it.

P.S: Mods, i do believe we should ve a sticky thread on North Waziristan as well.

 

[pak avatar]

Well in my opinion the only polls tht matter are from the innocent ppl who actually unforunately have to experience these drone attacks and operations, why dont these polls ask ppl would u be ok if ur neighbour gets hit with a drone attack or ur housing area is bombed and shelled by army and airforce.
It easy to answer yes to operations when someone else is involved

 

[PAFAce]

when was this survey conducted? and what were the areas they covered?
looks fake.....
i know what these ngo's keep doing.and i know the workers of CAMP ngo.

Well in my opinion the only polls tht matter are from the innocent ppl who actually unforunately have to experience these drone attacks and operations, why dont these polls ask ppl would u be ok if ur neighbour gets hit with a drone attack or ur housing area is bombed and shelled by army and airforce.
It easy to answer yes to operations when someone else is involved

You will both find your answers in the survey. Almost the exact questions you have asked were part of the survey, at least bother to read it before you comment. They interviewed people within the areas hit by drones, IDPs, people in surrounding tribal regions etc. and have been doing it every year since 2008.

The survey also lists the methodology, areas, numbers and, for the community surveys, even the names of the tribal elders that participated.

I think this survey is quite a good indicator of things, but obviously, its not perfect. By their own admission, they were unable to reach 42% of the villages in FATA because of security concerns. They also admit that there is a 5% chance of errors, so if you like, you can tip the numbers in "your" favor by 5%. Still, the survey remains very useful.

See, the thing is, we may not like the numbers, but that doesn't change the numbers, pure and simple. I see this problem over and over on this forum. Even some of our most senior members refuse to accept the simple truths of hard evidence, whether it be regarding Pakistanis' view of Shariah or Drone Strikes or Gen Musharraf or any other controversial issue.

I'm not saying we must take this survey to be the absolute truth, but at least admit that it is one of the best tools we've had to situation on the ground.

 

[roadrunner]

when was this survey conducted? and what were the areas they covered?
looks fake.....
i know what these ngo's keep doing.and i know the workers of CAMP ngo.

I think the important people to be surveyed in this case would be those in North Waziristan. If the situation's explained to them, and they agree, then I suppose there's nothing wrong with it.

btw, i don't know who was surveyed in this poll (I don't like polls very much anyway)

 

[Majnun]

How reliable are these surveys?