Surveyed immigrants mostly back Iraq war Poll conducted in native languages finds support lower than in general population
Christian Berthelsen, Chronicle Staff Writer
A majority of immigrants in the United States support the recent war in Iraq, but at significantly lower levels than the population at large, according to the results of a public opinion poll to be released today.
The nationwide study found that a majority in each ethnic group it examined felt the war would "create serious problems" for U.S. relations with the Arab and Islamic worlds, and could lead to domestic economic instability, government harassment and more terrorist acts.
Most of the immigrants surveyed said they thought the United States could lose credibility in the world if U.S.-led investigators failed to find that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, which America used as a justification for launching the invasion.
The national poll of 1,000 immigrants from Asia, the Middle East and Latin America was conducted by Bendixen & Associates, a Latino-focused consulting group based in Miami, for New California Media, a group of 400 ethnic newspapers and broadcast and online outlets, and the University of Southern California's Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism.
The majority of respondents were interviewed in their native languages of Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Hindi, Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Spanish. The survey's backers say they were motivated to take the poll because non-fluent English speakers are often passed over for participation in public opinion polls, and thus their views are underrepresented.
The poll was conducted April 16-24, following the fall of Baghdad and the end of major U.S. military operations in Iraq. As a benchmark, the groups compared their results with an April 14 survey by ABC News and the Washington Post, which found that 78 percent of Americans supported the military action in the Middle East, while 20 percent opposed it. The New California Media survey found wide differentials within the immigrant community in attitudes about the war, and even among different ethnic groups from the same part of the world. Vietnamese and Filipinos, for instance, were fervent supporters of U.S. action even above the level of the general population, while Koreans were more skeptical.
By comparison, the study found that 61 percent of Asians supported the war compared with 27 percent opposed, and that 50 percent of Latin Americans -- most of them from Mexico -- supported the war while 33 percent opposed it. The division was greatest among Middle Easterners, with 44 percent supporting the war but 41 percent opposing it.
"Except for the Vietnamese and the Filipinos, the other seven groups have opinions on the war that are substantially less supportive than the general public," said Sergio Bendixen, the director of the poll, in an interview Sunday. "They also have a great deal more concern about the impact of this war on our foreign policy, the economic situation in the United States, the potential for terrorist attacks on this country.
"They are a lot more fearful, a lot more concerned, a lot more critical of U.S. foreign policy than the average American."
During random interviews Sunday at the Cinco de Mayo festival in San Francisco's Civic Center, viewpoints were across the spectrum.
Luz Stockli, a 61-year-old Filipina who has been in the United States for one year, said she was opposed to the war in Iraq for many of the reasons articulated in the study.
"I think it's a big problem," she said. "It will affect the economy. I am opposed on the war. It will go on, conflicts between America and Muslims. It will not end, like that. They're not helping Iraq. They only destroy. It's more violence."
But Carlos Lorenzo, 44, a Cuban who has been in the United States 23 years, supported the U.S. military action. As Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock's "It Takes Two" blared over the loudspeakers, Lorenzo said: "Bush! Good!" and pumped his fist for emphasis with each word.
Among Asians, Vietnamese supported the war by the largest majority, with 85 percent in favor and just 7 percent opposed, and Filipinos supported the war by a margin of 75 percent to 10 percent. Among Middle Easterners, Iranians supported the U.S. action by 55 percent to 30 percent, while 51 percent of Pakistanis opposed it, and just 33 percent supported it.
Meanwhile, 40 percent of Asians, 55 percent of Middle Easterners and 42 percent of Latin Americans felt the war would "create serious problems" between the United States and the Arab world. Among Asians, only Vietnamese believed the war would "improve relations," by 62 percent to 18 percent. Large majorities of Arabs, Iranians and Pakistanis thought the war would create serious problems, including launching more conflicts with nations such as Syria or Iran or touch off civil wars in countries like Pakistan.
More than a third of Middle Easterners felt more fearful of police and government authorities in the United States as a result of the war, while large majorities of Vietnamese, Koreans and Filipinos said it made them less fearful.
All groups agreed that the United States would lose international credibility if inspectors did not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, including 53 percent of Asians, 61 percent of Middle Easterners and 60 percent of Latin Americans.
Bendixen said 95 percent of Chinese, Vietnamese and Koreans had been interviewed in their native languages, as well as 80 percent of Latinos and 70 percent of Iranians. Among Asian Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos and some Arab groups, about 50 percent were interviewed in their home tongue. The remainder were conducted in English.
E-mail Christian Berthelsen at cberthelsen at sfchronicle.com.