Iraq survey ....

We offered a list of five possible reasons for the war, and asked people to identify the most important.
The top two by a mile were “to secure oil supplies” (47 per cent) and “to help Israel” (41 per cent). Just 23 per cent said our aim was “to liberate the people of Iraq”, while 7 per cent said “to protect Kuwait”.
The formal reason for going to war, “to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction” came last. Just 6 per cent think this was America’s and Britain’s main motive.

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One reason is that just 32 per cent say that everyday life is better now than it was a year ago. Twice as many say it is either just as bad (16 per cent) or actually worse (47 per cent).

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Other widespread concerns include the lack of clean water, doctors and medical supplies. No wonder that fully 75 per cent say Iraq is more dangerous than it was before the war (including 54 per cent who say it is “much more dangerous”). Just 14 per cent reckon the country is safer.
Yet there are signs of cautious optimism, especially about the long term. By almost three-to-one, Baghdadians expect life in one year’s time to be better (43 per cent) rather than worse (16 per cent) in one year’s time than it was before the war. Looking five years ahead, optimists outnumber pessimists by five to one (54-11 per cent).

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