Iraq Poll Illuminates Sunni-Shia Divide: Sunni Dissatisfaction Widespread

Abstract

The welling up of violent incidents that followed the bombing of one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines last week in Iraq have raised questions about the roots of the frustration and anger that are playing out. A WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 1,150 Iraqis conducted in January shows that among the Sunni community there is widespread unhappiness with how things are going in Iraq, but that the Shia (who recently won the majority of seats in the new Iraqi Parliament) and the Kurds (who have crafted a substantial amount of autonomy) express relative satisfaction.