Iraqis, while they think their current situation sucks, are reasonably optimistic about their futures despite the travails of recent years, suggests a new poll.
An excerpt from the BBC story:
But the survey, carried out for the BBC and other media, found security fears still dominate most Iraqis' thoughts.
Their priority for the coming year would be the restoration of security and the withdrawal of foreign troops.
A majority of the 1,700 people questioned wanted a united Iraq with a strong central government.
Hopes for future
The poll by Oxford Research International was commissioned by the BBC, ABC News and other international media organisations, and released ahead of this week's parliamentary elections in Iraq.
Although most Iraqis were optimistic about the future, the poll found significant regional variations in responses.
In central Iraq respondents were far less optimistic about the situation in one year's time than those in Baghdad, the south and north.
The BBC News website's World Affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says the survey shows a degree of optimism at variance with the usual depiction of the country as one in total chaos.
The findings are more in line with the kind of arguments currently being deployed by US President George W Bush, he says.
However, our correspondent adds that critics will claim that the survey proves little beyond showing how resilient Iraqis are at a local level - and that it reveals enough important exceptions to the rosy assessment, especially in the centre of the country, to indicate serious dissatisfaction.
Interviewers found that 71% of those questioned said things were currently very or quite good in their personal lives, while 29% found their lives very or quite bad.
When asked whether their lives would improve in the coming year, 64% said things would be better and 12% said they expected things to be worse.
However, Iraqis appear to have a more negative view of the overall situation in their country, with 53% answering that the situation is bad, and 44% saying it is good.
At-a-glance
The survey also found 57 per cent of Iraqis want a new government to focus on security, while removing American troops was second -- with only 10 per cent support.
There was more support for a strong leader now, and democracy later.
But right now, people trust the army and religious leaders far more than they do politicians.
Here's an excerpt of a column by the BBC's John Simpson:
Most of the 71% who say their lives are good are Kurds and Shia; a good proportion of the 29% who say their lives are bad are no doubt Sunnis.
Normal life can be fraught with tension in the capitalIt may not be quite as neat and tidy as that, but these figures are almost exactly the same as they were in last year's BBC poll.
In other words, the polarisation of Iraqi society between winners and losers continues unabated.
But security apart, people's lives certainly have got better. There are many more consumer goods and wages have not only gone up, but are paid more regularly.
Yet people still complain bitterly about the bad electricity supply, and if the poll had been conducted in the summer they'd be complaining about water shortages too.
Iraqis always thought America could do everything; now, they say, it can't even provide power and water.
And it can't guarantee a safe election.
There is a new industry now - staging fake attacks in order to enhance a politician's status.
A friend who is standing in this week's election told me that three different people had come to him, each saying that if he wanted to increase his visibility and credibility, they could organise an assassination attempt on him, or perhaps a kidnapping. His own survival was guaranteed.
My friend, the most civilised and peaceable of men, thanked them politely and said no.
Snapshot
So here, courtesy of the BBC poll, is a snapshot of Iraq today: a country whose people often seem close to civil war, yet feel overwhelmingly safe in their own neighbourhoods.
Iraqis are scathing about the performance of the American, British and other troops, yet believe it's too soon for them to leave.
People are so worried the country is falling apart that they want a strong government to take control, yet believe that in a few years' time things will be really good here.
These findings are only useful if you bear in mind how complex and varied Iraqi society is.