Oxford Research Organization: 90% of Iraqis Want a Democratic Government - 2003-12-02

The Oxford International Research Organization, a British research institute, has published the results of its recent studies, stating that 90% of the people in Iraq believe that the country needs a democratic government, and 70% of the population desires strong leadership. The findings of the Oxford International Research studies, released on Monday, indicate that most Iraqis believe that the democratic system has problems; however, they still consider democracy to be the best form of government. Additionally, the research shows that the Iraqi people do not trust the coalition forces of the United States and Britain at all. Regarding Saddam Hussein and the Iraq war, there are interesting and sometimes contradictory opinions. For instance, while nearly half of the Iraqi population believes that the removal of Saddam Hussein last year was the best possible event, the same number of people say that the war, which was the means of removing Saddam, was the worst possible event in the country. Another interesting finding of this research is that there is little support among the Iraqi people for the establishment of a religious government. The results indicate that only 12% of the population wants a government led by religious scholars, and only 1% desires the establishment of an Islamic government in Baghdad.