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Poll Finds 77% Believe Army Aware of Iraqi Prisoner Abuse
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- More than three quarters of the American public believes that at a minimum the Army's generals and mid-level officers were aware of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners before the abuse was reported by the news media, according to the latest Harris Poll. The poll, conducted just prior to the handover of control of Iraq to the Iraqi leadership, also shows that most Americans believe Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had knowledge of the treatment of the prisoners. Moreoever, most Americans feel that these reports of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners have seriously damaged the reputation of the United States around the world, the poll found.The poll was conducted online from June 10 to June 16 among a nationwide sample of 2,136 adults.Specifically, the poll found:Over three-quarters (77%) of adults think that mid-level army officers and six in 10 (62%) of army generals were aware of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners before the news was reported in the media.Half (50%) think Rumsfeld was also aware of the abuse with 29% feeling that he wasn't aware.Even a third (32%) feels that President Bush was aware of the treatment of prisoners in Iraq, though more (47%) said that the president was not aware.A slight majority (53%) says that the abuse was common (23% saying very common and 30% saying somewhat common). Over a third (37%) says that the abuse was somewhat or very rare.From the standpoint of a majority (79%) of the public, the U.S. Army's treatment of Iraqi prisoners has hurt the reputation of the U.S. around the world. Forty-two percent say it has done "a great deal of damage" with another 37% say it has done "some damage"; only 18% say that the treatment has done "little damage" or has done "no damage" (3%).The poll has a 95% probability of accuracy, plus or minus two percentage points, according to Harris Interactive. Harris Interactive is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll, and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Visit Harris Interactive"