ABC/Time Poll: Public Policy and Public Opinion

…In early 2004 six percent of Iraqi households had cell phones; now it’s 62 percent. Ownership of satellite dishes has nearly tripled …. (2)

…,46 percent, say the country is better off now than it was before the war. And half of Iraqis now say it was wrong for U.S.-led forces to invade in 2003, up from 39 percent in 2004.

The number of Iraqis who say things are going well in their country overall is just 44 percent, far fewer than the 71 percent who say their own lives are going well. Fifty-two percent instead say the country is doing badly.

…Two-thirds now oppose the presence of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, 14 points higher than in February 2004. Nearly six in ten disapprove of how the United States has operated in Iraq since the war, and most of them disapprove strongly. And nearly half of Iraqis would like to see U.S. forces leave soon.

Specifically, 26 percent of Iraqis say U.S. and other coalition forces should “leave now” and another 19 percent say they should go after the government chosen in this week’s election takes office. (3)

There were limitations on questions in the survey because of security concerns;….(4)

Divided Opinions - Shiite vs Sunni Areas: Own life, good - 86%/43%; Iraq, things going well - 53%/9%; U.S., right to invade - 59%/7%; Feel very safe - 80%/11%; Constitution, approve - 82%/27%; Iraqi army, confident - 87%/37%. (4)

Confidence in this week’s elections is far lower in Sunni Arab areas – 48 percent, compared with more than 80 percent elsewhere – but, given broad disaffection in Sunni areas, that could be worse. (5)

Just 11 percent of people in predominantly Sunni provinces…feel safe in their own neighborhoods. (5)

The United States fares even more poorly in Anbar, where a solitary one pecent say the U.S.-led invasion was a good thing for Iraq, and not a single resident respondent expresses confidence in the U.S. and U.K. occupation forces. (6)

…fewer Iraqis now say these conditions [ in percentages, bad - crime protection (33); security (38); jobs (58); medical care (36); electricity (54); clean water (42); basic goods (39); schools (25); local government (42); free speech (19); economic situation (30)] are better than they were before the war. (7)

…Ironically, for an oil-rich nation, fuel supply also is a persistent problem. Among Iraqis who drive, seven in 10 say they encounter fuel lines. Just under half say they wait for hours; a quarter, for days. Two-thirds of Iraqis also report waiting lines for other necessities, heating and cooking fuel. Four in 10 say they wait for hours; just under three in 10, for days. …52 percent say [reconstruction] efforts have been effective or, while needed, have not occurred at all. Few – just six pecent – credit the United States with the main role in reconstruction. More say it’s the Iraqi people (12 pecent) or the Iraqi government (nine percent), but 37 percent say it’s “no one.” (8)

ABC News Poll: Iraq – Where Things Stand. December 12, 2005.