Iraqis: life is getting better — UK Times Online

A recent poll indicates that Iraqis feel quite different about the accomplishments of the war than our mainstream media would demand us believe. I’ve heard a few ignorant ultra-leftists argue that the Iraqis were better off under Saddam Hussein, but most Iraqis — that would be those whose lives we actually speak of here — appear to think otherwise.

Of course, that shouldn’t be hard for any rational-thinking person to believe; after all, it’s easy to sit back here in the comfort of the United States and propound frothing-at-the-mouth, irrational hatred of a President when, e.g., you aren’t the one who was forced to watch your twelve year-old daughter raped and murdered in front of you.

The survey of more than 5,000 Iraqis found the majority optimistic despite their suffering in sectarian violence since the American-led invasion four years ago this week.

One in four Iraqis has had a family member murdered, says the poll by Opinion Research Business. In Baghdad, the capital, one in four has had a relative kidnapped and one in three said members of their family had fled abroad. But when asked whether they preferred life under Saddam, the dictator who was executed last December, or under Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, most replied that things were better for them today.

Only 27% think there is a civil war in Iraq, compared with 61% who do not, according to the survey carried out last month.

Those numbers are about flipped over here in the United States where most people’s biggest worry is whether their NCAA brackets are going to bust.