US views of Islam and violence, responsibility to act in Iraq

(IraqiNews.com) On Saturday, a poll conducted by Pew Research and published in the Washington Post revealed that as violence and chaos spreads in Iraq, the public is wary of U.S. involvement in the country. A 55% majority says the United States does not have a responsibility to do something about the violence in Iraq; 39% do see a responsibility to act.

Overall public awareness of the situation in Iraq is high: 45% say they have heard a lot about the violence in Iraq and takeover of large parts of the country by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted July 8-14 among 1,805 adults, finds that a majority of the public (55%) thinks that religious and ethnic rivalries in Iraq have contributed a lot to the current violence and instability in the country. About four-in-ten (39%) think the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops has been a major contributing factor, while somewhat fewer (32%) say the U.S.-led war in Iraq has contributed a lot to the country’s violence and instability.

Views of Islam and Violence

The public is divided about whether Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers: 44% say it is no more likely and 43% say it is more likely.

This is a modest change from February, when 50% said Islam was no more likely to encourage violence than others and 38% said it was more likely. Since 2003, opinions on the question roughly have been split.

Young people continue to reject the idea that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence. By 66% to 27%, those younger than 30 say Islam does not encourage violence more than other religions. By nearly two-to-one, adults 65 and older take the opposite stance (52% say Islam is more likely to encourage violence, 28% say it is not).

About half of college graduates (51%) and those with some college experience (48%) say Islam does not encourage violence more than other religions, compared with 36% of those who have no more than a high school education.