Survey finds Iraqi wide suffering
Iraq, Politics, 3/20/2007

A new survey carried out in Iraq on Monday presented a negative view of the US-led invasion and growing pessimism about the continuing occupation.

Only 18 per cent of Iraqi respondents said they had confidence in US and coalition troops.

ABCNews reported that a poll in Iraq "sponsored by ABC News and media partners — in this case USA Today, the BBC and ARD German TV — and the changes are grim. In November 2005, 63 percent of Iraqis felt very safe in their neighborhoods. Today just 26 percent say the same. One in three doesn't feel safe at all. In Baghdad, home to a fifth of the country's population, that skyrockets: Eighty-four percent feel entirely unsafe."

ABCNews added that more than 72 percent of Iraqis "report anger about what's happening in their country, depression, trouble sleeping and difficulty concentrating on their usual activities -- all potential indicators of traumatic stress."

ABCNews added "The main source of this antipathy is disaffected Sunni Arabs, the group that lost power with the overthrow of Saddam. Ninety-four percent of Sunni Arabs call attacks on U.S. forces acceptable. That compares with 35 percent of newly empowered Shiites (still a large number to endorse violence), vs. 7 percent of Kurds, who are far more favorably inclined toward the United States. Even among Shiites, eight in 10 disapprove of the way the United States and other coalition forces have carried out their responsibilities in Iraq."

Previous Stories:
  600,000 Iraqis dead because of war   (10/12/2006)
  Iraq war made world more dangerous, say most Britons   (6/15/2006)
  Grim picture of Iraq's condition   (5/6/2006)
  US urges an Iraqi inclusive government   (4/27/2006)
  Bush says steady progress being achieved in Iraq   (12/8/2005)
  85 percent of Iraqis oppose presence of US and UK   (10/27/2005)

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