May 7, 2003
Contact: answers@westgroupresearch.com
Military Action Was “Right Thing” United Nations Important but Mildly Effective
PHOENIX – The majority of Arizonans said we did the right thing by initiating military action against Iraq. That is one of the findings of an April telephone survey of 407 Arizona adults by WestGroup Research of Phoenix. Some 76% of those surveyed, which includes 53% “definitely did the right thing” and 23% “probably did the right thing,” agreed with the action. The overall study has a margin of error at a 95% confidence level of + 5%.
The net percentage of “right thing” was highest among men (84%), higher income households over $55,000 annually (81%), and Valley residents (80%). Nearly all Republicans (98%) said we did the right thing compared to only 54% of the Democrats and 69% of the Independents.
Only 21% said we did the wrong thing – 11% definitely and 10% probably. The net percentage of “wrong thing” was highest among women (28%), Tucson residents (36%), and Democrats (38%).
There was disagreement among the political parties and between men and women. Men and Republicans were most likely to say we did the right thing. The majority of women and Democrats also said we did the right thing, but at significantly lower percentages.
| Total | Phoenix | Tucson | Republican | Democrat | |
| Definitely did the right thing | 53% | 55% | 46% | 79% | 32% |
| Probably did the right thing | 23% | 25% | 16% | 19% | 22% |
| Probably did the wrong thing | 10% | 10% | 9% | 1% | 22% |
| Definitely did the wrong thing | 11% | 7% | 27% | 1% | 16% |
| No opinion | 3% | 3% | 2% | 0% | 8% |
When asked to rate the importance and effectiveness of the United Nations, the majority of those who participated in the study think it is important that we belong to the United Nations – 56% gave a 4 or 5 rating. While this represents the majority, it is a weak statement about support for UN membership. Another indicator of weakness is the low rating for effectiveness – only 15% gave a 4 or 5 rating while most people leaned toward mediocre or ineffective (1, 2, or 3 rating).
Importance was rated highest among people under 30 years of age – 76% gave a 4 or 5 rating. Younger respondents were also more likely to give a positive effectiveness rating – 29% gave a 4 or 5 rating for effectiveness.
Women were much more likely than men to give a 5 rating (extremely important) – 49% vs. 32% of men. However there was less difference between men and women in their ratings of effectiveness – 12% of men gave a 4 or 5 rating vs. 19% of women.
| Importance | Effectiveness | |
| 4 or 5 rating | 56% | 15% |
| 3 | 17% | 36% |
| 1 or 2 rating | 25% | 46% |
| No opinion | 2% | 3% |
