The Foreign Service Journal, December 2006

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 39 n a regional poll of Arab attitudes conducted by Zogby International in October 2005, respondents in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon agreed by substantial pluralities that the most important factor in determining their anti-American attitude was U.S. occupation of Iraq. One major reason for this reaction is a misunderstanding of why we went into Iraq in the first place. In a separate poll Zogby and the University of Maryland conducted in May 2004, respondents averred by a substantial majority that protecting F O C U S O N M I D D L E E A S T P E A C E T HE I MPLICATIONS OF I RAQ AND I TS I MPACT ON THE R EGION T HE PRESUMPTION OF U.S. MILITARY SUPERIORITY IS UNDER FIRE IN I RAQ . E VEN M ORE IMPORTANT , THE WORLD MAY BEGIN TO DOUBT OUR LEADERSHIP AND RELIABILITY . B Y E DWARD W ALKER I Adam Niklewicz