Poll: Iraqis Gripped by Fear and Anger

Iraqi girl looks at a US soldier on a patrol in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Monday, March 19, 2007. U.S. soldiers have been patrolling the Shiite militia stronghold since March 4 under a deal which allowed them to enter the area without resistance.(AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali) (Adil Al-khazali - AP)

The levels of stress soar outside relatively peaceful Kurdistan, especially in Baghdad and the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, the poll found.

Fewer than half in the country, 42 percent, said that life in Iraq now is better than it was under Saddam Hussein, the late dictator accused of murdering tens of thousands during a brutal regime.

Iraqis pessimism about safety spills over into their views of most aspects of life _ the economy, basic needs like power and clean water, even the risks of sending their children to school.

But views of the U.S. military presence are contradictory among Iraqis _ just as they are in this country.

About four in five Iraqis oppose the presence of U.S. troops but only a third want those U.S. troops to leave Iraq immediately.

Conducting the face-to-face poll was a difficult ordeal in such a violent country. More than 100 Iraqi interviewers conducted the poll and some reported seeing bombings, beatings and even a mass kidnapping. Several teams of interviewers were detained by police _ but every interviewer made it home safely.

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On the Net:

ABC Poll site _ http://abcnews.go.com/US/PollVault/