A Zen Poll

If a poll is conducted in Afghanistan but nobody seems to listen, did the poll really exist?

In September, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Environics conducted a poll of Afghans living in Afghanistan about the state of their country. Questions ranged from their feelings about the country's future to their comfort level with foreign troops. Citizens living in Kandahar province were asked special questions about Canadian troops and Canada's role in Afghanistan.

Overall, the poll results showed that Afghans support their national government and are fairly optimistic about Afghanistan's future, with 79% saying they feel the country is going in the right direction. 73% said that they felt women's lives are better off today than they were under the Taliban government. 86% felt they were better off or the same as they had been in September of 2002.

In Kandahar, 60% of the respondents had a positive opinion of Canadian troops. (17% had no opinion or did not answer and a further 4% were neutral towards them.) Of the 19% who reported negative feelings towards Canadian soldiers, 45% said their negative feelings were because of the deaths of innocent civilians.

This is all interesting, but perhaps the most interesting aspect of the poll is how unimportant the results seem to have been. As can be expected, the CBC reports on the poll they commissioned, but the rest of the Canadian media seem to have left it alone. So did the government, which is somewhat surprising given the fact that Canada's commitment in Afghanistan is perhaps the most debated international issue (after Kyoto and global warming).

If you want to see the full poll results, check out this link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/afghan-survey2007.html.