Iraqis: life is getting better / Pessimism 'growing among Iraqis'

[Barrett808]

Iraqis: life is getting better
Marie Colvin

MOST Iraqis believe life is better for them now than it was under Saddam Hussein, according to a British opinion poll published today.

The survey of more than 5,000 Iraqis found the majority optimistic despite their suffering in sectarian violence since the American-led invasion four years ago this week.

One in four Iraqis has had a family member murdered, says the poll by Opinion Research Business. In Baghdad, the capital, one in four has had a relative kidnapped and one in three said members of their family had fled abroad. But when asked whether they preferred life under Saddam, the dictator who was executed last December, or under Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, most replied that things were better for them today.

Only 27% think there is a civil war in Iraq, compared with 61% who do not, according to the survey carried out last month.

By a majority of two to one, Iraqis believe military operations now under way will disarm all militias. More than half say security will improve after a withdrawal of multinational forces.

Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said the findings pointed to progress. “There is no widespread violence in the four southern provinces and the fact that the picture is more complex than the stereotype usually portrayed is reflected in today’s poll,” she said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1530762.ece

Pessimism 'growing among Iraqis'
Pollster conducts a survey of Iraqi opinion
Iraqis have become less optimistic about their future, the poll suggests

A new survey paints a pessimistic picture of Iraqis' confidence in their own government and in coalition forces.

Only 18% of Iraqis have confidence in US and coalition troops, while opinion is almost evenly split on whether to have confidence in Iraq's government.

About 86% of those questioned expressed concern about someone in their household being a victim of violence.

More than 2,000 people were polled for the study, which was commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD and USA Today.

The survey was conducted by D3 Systems.

The latest findings contrast strongly with the outlook among Iraqis in 2005, when respondents to a similar survey were generally hopeful about the future.

Asked whether they thought reconstruction efforts in Iraq had been effective, some 67% said they felt they had not.

Full details of the survey will be available on this website on Monday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6464277.stm

Props to my cousin Charyl for putting these together.

:hi:

[shance]

1. I guess mass murders of families, friends and children will do that to folks.

n/t

[truthisfreedom]

2. What a difference a source makes.

Wild.

[Robbien]

3. Yep, life is getting better if you would only pay attention to a poll

People don't care about family members being killed, or hundreds of bombs going off in the street, or inflation of 1000 percent, or armed gangs ruling the streets kidnapping for profit, or no clean water, or no electricity, or . . .



But the rabid right will keep pulling out this crazyass poll and say, see Iraqis don't care about all that stuff. They all kiss the ground we walk on.

[tech3149]

4. Gee, did Rupert buy the Times?

They've been conservative for some time but that story is just plain BS.

[Nihil]

8. FYI: Rupert (Murdoch) bought the Times in 1981 (n/t)

[UpInArms]

5. well, I'm schizophrenic and so am I!

n/t

[tiptoe]

6. I doubt the dead Iraqi civilians were polled (650,000+ late '06, per Johns Hopkins researchers)

[xchrom]

7. there is something surreal about the first survey.

that people can sustain that much violence...

[Gin]

9. maybe the "life is getting better group" lives in the green zone.

g

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Links to both full reports, for comparison

Opinion Research Business

D3 Systems (NB: not actually loading for me at the moment - the site may be overloaded) - or see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6451841.stm or http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2954716&page=1 for some figures from it.

On edit: It's interesting to note the difference in personal wellbeing, and that of the country. From the ABC/BBC poll:

Compared to the time before the war in spring 2003, are things overall in your life
much better now, somewhat better, about the same, somewhat worse or much worse?
    -------Better--------      --------Worse-------- No
      NET Much Somewhat   Same NET Somewhat Much     opin.
3/5/07 42  14     29       22   36    28      8      0


Compared to our country as it was before the war in spring 2003, are things in Iraq
overall much better now, somewhat better, about the same, somewhat worse or much
worse?
    -------Better--------      --------Worse-------- No
      NET Much Somewhat   Same NET Somewhat Much     opin.
3/5/07 37  11     27       12   50    30     20      0

From the ORB poll:

Taking everything into account, do you feel that things are better for you now under the present political system or do you think thinks were better for you before under the previous regime of Saddam Hussein?

Better under
the current system 49%
Better under the
previous regime 26%
Neither, they are just
as bad as each other 16%
Don't know/Refused 5%
No answer 3%

So we see the 'in your life'/'for you' answers are reasonably close; there's also that one talks about "the time before war" and "now", while the other specifies "the present political system" and "the previous regime of Saddam Hussein" - which directs them to think more about the political setup. It's not surprising that the more it's couched in politics, the more popular the present is - after all, it's not Maliki sending out the bombers and gunmen. The problem with the present is lack of control - which some will blame on the political system, and others won't.

[Eugene]

11. Reuters: Few Iraqis trust U.S. forces four years into war

Few Iraqis trust U.S. forces four years into war

By Claudia Parsons
Reuters
Monday, March 19, 2007; 5:14 AM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Only 18 percent of Iraqis have confidence in U.S.-
led forces, a new poll showed on Monday, as President Bush faced anti-
war protests at home four years after the invasion that toppled Saddam
Hussein.

-snip-

The poll of more than 2,000 people, commissioned by the BBC, ABC News,
ARD and USA Today, indicated Iraqis have become less optimistic about
the future compared to a similar survey in 2005 when respondents were
generally hopeful, the BBC said.

The Iraqi government inspired more confidence than U.S.-led forces,
with opinion almost evenly split on whether people had confidence in
the U.S.-backed administration headed by Shi'ite Islamist Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

DISAPPOINTMENT

About 86 percent were concerned about someone in their household
being a victim of violence. Iraqis were also disappointed by reconstruction
efforts since the invasion, with 67 percent saying efforts had not been
effective.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031900340.html

[Bobbieo]

12. Can you really blame them for being distrustful of Americans???

The images we get from the Iraq war are the American military busting into Iraqi homes - over and over again. Think how we would feel if this were happening to us in America by soldiers from the Middle East.