Fairly hopeful results of a Time/ABC poll in Iraq:
TIME and ABC News teamed up last October to travel to 30 towns across Iraq to see whether life had improved for ordinary citizens. We found the initial rumblings of an economic boom and, particularly outside Baghdad, the first glimmers of political freedom. But there were also large numbers of unemployed young men and widespread concerns about security. This month we retraced our footsteps, often interviewing the same people we met on our previous journey, to gauge the extent of change. We found that the country has indeed moved forward but that this progress has been matched by a corresponding rise in anxiety. The transition in the coming months, as the U.S. hands power to Iraqis and the nation's ethnic and religious groups try to find ways to coexist peacefully, will determine whether the country can become, at one extreme, a model for democracy in the region or, at the other, an unstable haven for terrorist organizations.
For now, the economy is clearly gaining ground. The Coalition Provisional Authority, which manages Iraq's public spending, has steadily increased salaries, fueling commerce that is creating jobs and giving many Iraqis a feeling of prosperity they had never known. An expanded and more visible Iraqi police force has reduced street crime and banditry. In many cities markets and restaurants now dare to stay open until late into the night. But continued unrest threatens to swamp all those gains. A series of bomb attacks targeting Kurdish politicians, Shi'ite mosques and police stations around Iraq has stoked fears that the very foundations of the country are shaking. Many Iraqis blame the U.S. for creating this instability and for continuing to occupy the country, but few would want the troops to simply pull out now, in a climate ripe for civil war. In an informal survey of 1,350 Iraqis carried out for ABC and TIME, a majority of respondents said they think life will improve. But they also complained that the coalition has yet to deliver on its promises.
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