The Gallup news organization released some polling results minutes ago that are just astounding: Pakistanis, by huge margins, disapprove of the U.S. military raid that killed Osama bin Laden and they fear that Bin Laden’s death will make them less safe from terrorism.
Of those Pakistanis who were aware of the military action when participating in Gallup’s May 9-12 poll, 82 percent opposed the deadly U.S. raid and only 13 percent approved. Within that same group of respondents, 10 percent agreed that the al-Qaida leader should have been killed, 52 percent said he should have been captured and 29 percent said that, essentially, he should have been left alone.
In the wake of Bin Laden’s death and claims by al-Qaida and the Taliban that his killing will be avenged, 60 percent of Pakistanis familiar with the raid said they now feel less safe. Some 7 percent said the Navy SEALs military incursion will make them more safe, and 24 percent said the special ops mission will make no difference.
I suspect that the senators on Capitol Hill screaming about Pakistan’s lack of loyalty and competence — and an overabundance of U.S. aid — will certainly find a lot to chew on in these poll numbers.
