WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite concerns about their own safety, the majority of Iraqis say they want the U.S. and British troops now in Iraq to leave within the next few months, according to a nationwide poll of people in Iraq.

``There's a sense of disillusionment,'' Gallup's director of international polling, Richard Burkholder, said Thursday. ``They had higher expectations of us. If we can sweep their army aside in a matter of weeks, why can't we stabilize their country? We're a victim of their high expectations.''

Seven in 10 said their lives or the lives of their family would be in danger if they were seen to be cooperating with the Coalition Provisional Authority currently governing Iraq. Almost two-thirds, 64 percent, said actions by the coalition have turned out worse than they expected at the time of the invasion.

While Iraqis are unhappy about the current situation in their country, almost two-thirds in the poll said they expect their country will be better off five years from now than it was before the U.S. and British invasion.

But half have doubts the United States is serious about establishing a democratic system in Iraq and even more, 57 percent, doubt the U.S. will allow Iraqis to design their own political future.

The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll was taken between March 22 and April 9, before the latest rounds of fighting between coalition forces and insurgents. A relatively small number of the 3,444 face-to-face interviews were conducted more recently.

Almost six in 10, 57 percent, said they would like to see coalition troops leave ``immediately, within the next few months,'' while 36 percent said they would like to see those troops stay longer.

Despite the reservations, Iraqis have mixed feelings about the effects of the U.S. led invasion.

Six in 10 say ousting Saddam Hussein was worth the hardships they have faced since then.

Half said they are better off since Saddam was ousted, while 25 percent said they are doing about the same.

Burkholder said the trend in Baghdad, where Gallup polled last August and September, reflects a drop in attitudes about U.S. troops.

Last August, almost six in 10 Iraqis said they had a positive view of how U.S. troops are behaving. Now, residents of Baghdad view U.S. soldiers negatively, by almost 8-1.

Only a quarter of Iraqis said attacks on U.S. troops are completely unjustified. Less than a third of Iraqis said the attacks are completely or somewhat justified from a moral standpoint. Another one in five said those attacks are sometimes justified.

Seven in 10 in the poll said they view the U.S. presence as an occupation and not a liberation.

Both Sunnis and Shiites shared the generally negative views of the U.S. mission in Iraq and U.S. troops.

But in the Sunni region in central Iraq, where troops have faced some of the strongest resistance , six in 10 said the attacks on U.S. troops can be justified morally.

The poll conducted by the Pan Arab Research Center of Dubai had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

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NOTE: Based on coverage of Iraq in the news, I would have thought that the feelings of the Iraqi people would have been far more hostle toward the coalition.
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