A new survey published Monday paints a pessimistic picture of Iraqis' confidence in their own government and in US forces, exactly four years after US forces invaded the country. Only 18% of Iraqis have confidence in US soldiers, while opinion is almost evenly split on whether to have confidence in Iraq's government.
About 86% of those questioned voiced concern about someone in their household being a victim of violence.
More than 2,000 people were polled for the survey, which was commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD and USA Today.
The latest findings contrast strongly with the outlook among Iraqis in 2005, when respondents to a similar survey were generally hopeful about the future.
Asked whether they thought reconstruction efforts in Iraq had been effective, some 67% said they felt they had not.
Pessimism is most keenly felt across central Iraq, including Baghdad, where Sunnis are most numerous.
Religious differences are particularly displayed in attitudes towards the execution of Saddam Hussein. Sunnis questioned largely regarded the manner of the former Iraqi president's death as inappropriate and unlikely to help the cause of reconciliation; Shiites predominantly took the opposite view.
