Survey shows Iraqis more optimistic about future but do not credit US

IRAQ:FIVE YEARS after the US invasion, Iraqis have expressed more optimism about their lives and their country's future than at any time during the past three years but they do not credit the US with improving their situation.

According to a poll commissioned by British, German and Japanese broadcasters and published yesterday, 55 per cent of respondents said their lives were good, compared with 39 per cent surveyed last August.

However, only 33 per cent of Sunnis expressed satisfaction, compared with 62 per cent of Shias and 73 per cent of Kurds.

Some 62 per cent believed security in residential areas had improved but half felt insecurity remained the main problem.

Some 72 per cent opposed the presence of foreign forces in the country, 70 per cent thought the US-led forces had done a poor job and 61 per cent said the US military made the security situation worse. However, the number who wanted an immediate US withdrawal fell from 47 to 38 per cent, while 35 per cent wanted US forces to stay until the situation stabilised.

The publication of the poll coincided with the release of a 15-page report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which said the humanitarian situation of Iraqis is among the most precarious in the world.

The organisation said: "Because of the conflict, millions of Iraqis have insufficient access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare."

Water is of poor quality and buying water on the market can cost an average family one-third of its $150 (€95) monthly income. Leaking sewage pipes are also contaminating drinking water.

"The electricity supply network has been deteriorating over the past year", the report said, causing water and sewage plants to close down or operate at reduced capacity. In parts of Baghdad there is only one hour of electric current a day. Buying six hours from a neighbourhood generator can cost $50 a month.

"The Iraqi healthcare system is now in worse shape than ever. . . More than 2,200 doctors and nurses have been killed and more than 250 kidnapped since 2003."

Thousands have left. There are 172 public hospitals with 30,000 beds, far short of the 80,000 beds required. Most hospitals are sub-standard, equipment is obsolete, and medicines are in short supply.

Because of poor security, the sick and injured "are often cut off from access to medical care", the report said.

Other surveys showed that attacks on US and allied Iraqi forces have fallen from 180 to 60 a day over the past eight months and that the average daily death rate for Iraqi civilians had been reduced to 29. However, more than a quarter of Iraqis have been displaced. Some 24,000 were in US prisons, twice the number under the ousted regime, and another 24,000 were in Iraqi prisons. Unemployment is 50-70 per cent, inflation 70 per cent. Some 64 per cent of women said violence against them had increased, 76 per cent said girls could not attend school and 68.3 per cent said there were few jobs for women.