Iraqis ‘pessimistic’ about future

  

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About 69 per cent gave similar responses for the availability of clean water, and 88 per cent said so for the availability of driving or cooking fuel.

 

D3 Systems questioned more than 2,000 people across all 18 Iraqi provinces between February 25 and March 5 for the survey, which was published on Monday.

  

A survey conducted for the BBC in November 2005 had painted a much brighter picture, with 71 per cent saying their lives were going well, 64 per cent saying their lives would be better in 12 months, and 69 per cent saying the situation in the country would be improved in a year.

  

The increased pessimism was reflected in a 14 per cent drop in support for democracy, with eight percentage point rises in support for both a strong leader and for an Islamic state.

 

Lack of confidence

 

According to another survey of 5,019 Iraqi adults published by ORB, a research company, 26 per cent of families have had a family member or relative murdered in the last three years, rising to 34 per cent among Shias.

 

Fifteen per cent of Iraqi families have had a family member leave the country due to the security situation, while the figure was 35 per cent among families in Baghdad.

  

Both local authorities and coalition forces were blamed for security failures – 53 per cent were dissatisfied with the performance of the Iraqi government and 82 per cent said they lacked confidence in foreign troops.

 

Fifty-three per cent of the population felt the security situation in Iraq would improve with troops leaving Iraq, according to ORB

 

The D3 Systems poll showed 63 per cent of Iraqis said foreign troops should only leave after security had improved and the capacity of Iraq‘s institutions was strengthened.

  

A total of 56 per cent said they did not believe that Iraq was in a civil war, while 58 per cent were in favour of maintaining a unified Iraq.