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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The best daily political cartoons can be found here:

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We should leave. Immediately. Without delay. We can always come back later if they invite us. If they don't then they don't. Then we can assume they've got things under control. Let them try to resolve things themselves, and see where that goes.

What? The US puts the entire region in turmoil and now they should just pick up and leave? No way.
They should bring in the UN, transfer all powers to the UN, and then the UN would bring the arab nations on board to maintain order and establish a new government.
There is also the small matter regarding the tab. Who will pick up the tab? The US stirred some serious shit over there, and it ought to pay for what it has done to the country´s infrastructures. And all the US needs to do is cutback on its humongous defense budget, if you don´t want to burden the tax payers. Although, i think there are quite a few americans who deserve to pay for their support to this war, aswell. When someone pledges support for a thing like that and dances to the music, you have to be prepared to pay the piper.

Leaving now would leave a power vaccum, that would ignite a civil war capable of spreding to the neighbour states. It is in the US´s best interest not to let it happen, otherwise they will face economical disaster due to oil prices rocketing sky high. Iran is watching. Turkey is restless, Israel fears the worst, and the world holds its breath.

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"Quincitilius Varus, give me back my legions!"
Emperor Augustus of Rome.

statistics is for losers.
polls show 75% of germans want a referendum about the EU, the government's response: "We do not need a referendum." matter closed.

You base this on what?

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74.3% of people say so. ;)

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The best daily political cartoons can be found here:

http://www.csmonitor.com/commentary/index.html

Yes of course, I forgot.... :rolleyes:

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When did the US give a crap about the people's oppinion in a country they invaded?

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Why not? That's exactly what the Iraqi's themselves obviously want us to do. What gives you any right to contradict their wishes? How unbelievably arrogant of you.

If that's what they really want then we should be happy to comply. Let them sort it all out for themselves. Let them "pick up the tab" themselves too, or let them get the UN to do so, if they can. We picked up the tab for getting rid of Saddam for them, which was far more than they actually deserved, so they can cover the rest themselves, certainly. They have lots of oil to sell; they certainly aren't so poor that they can't afford to pay their own way just like we have to. Maybe if it all comes out of their own pockets from here on out they'll value it a lot more than they apparently do right now.

If the US army leaves ALL Americans should leave (= major oil companies), unless they are asked by the Iraqi people to stay.

Personaly I don't consider leaving NOW is a good option. Iraq will become an even bigger mess, with warlords etc. I think the Coalition forces should first repair the infrastructure they have destroyed (if they haven't already) and make sure there will be elections. Maybe all this can be done before the end of the year. Not properly maybe, but it's better than leaving tomorrow. When you invade a country you have certain obligations towards the people of that country, if you like it or not.

I think the best solution is to replace the US and UK troups by arab troups, preferably arab UN troups, and let the US and the UK pay for a huge part of the costs, since they started this mess. It won't happen, I know, but maybe it will help.