TIME) -- Although Saddam Hussein's trial has become must-watch TV for many Iraqis, a majority of citizens say they have little interest now in dealing with members of his ousted regime, according to an exclusive poll by TIME, ABC News and several other organizations. What interests Iraqis more is this week's election for the National Assembly, in which some 7,000 candidates will be competing for 275 seats. More than three-quarters of the Iraqis polled expressed confidence that the election will create a stable government.

The TIME-ABC News poll, for which 1,711 Iraqis were interviewed in person in October and November, also showed Iraqis overall to be fairly confident about the future. Not surprisingly, however, the numbers varied dramatically from region to region. Results in areas dominated by Sunnis, who were forced from power after Saddam's fall, were relentlessly downbeat: only 25% said life is better since the war began, and just 21% said they feel very safe in their neighborhoods. In Shi'ite regions, 59% said life is better since the war started, and 82% characterized their neighborhoods as very safe. - CNN.com
--------
I hope it does go well for them, but I think that the differences in how each group feels indicates serious problems down the road.

The overthrow of Hussein and the potential for a viable democracy are certainly good things - although there must have been better ways of bringing them about than a war which killed tens of thousands. Dictatorships have been replaced more peacefully elsewhere.

I wonder how much the idea that things will be better next year is really 'they couldn't get much worse'. We read (buried in the back pages) of car bombs killing people every day. The infrastructure still isn't fixed.

Here's Murtha on another poll:

'With public support for the Iraq war at low ebb, the White House is more eager than ever to conflate Iraq's insurgency with terrorism. But last week, just after President Bush gave yet another speech repeatedly depicting the US war effort in Iraq as a battle against terrorists, Congressman John Murtha debunked the claim. His refutation deserved much more news coverage than it got.'

"You heard the president talk today about terrorism," Murtha told reporters at a December 7 news conference. "Every other word was 'terrorism.'" Speaking as a lawmaker in close touch with the Pentagon's top military leaders, he went on to confront the core of the administration's current argument for keeping American soldiers in Iraq.

"Let's talk about terrorism versus insurgency in Iraq itself," Murtha said. "We think that foreign fighters are about 7 percent - might be a little bit more, a little bit less. Very small proportion of the people that are involved in the insurgency are terrorists or how I would interpret them as terrorists."

Murtha threw cold water on the storyline that presents US troops as defenders of Iraqis. He cited a recent poll, commissioned by Britain's Ministry of Defense, indicating that four-fifths of Iraqis now want the American and British forces out of their country. "When I said we can't win a military victory, it's because the Iraqis have turned against us," Murtha said.

Contrary to what countless pundits still contend, Murtha sees the US presence in Iraq as a boon, not an impediment, to terrorism. "I am convinced, and everything that I've read, the conclusion I've reached is there will be less terrorism, there will be less danger to the United States and it'll be less insurgency once we're out," he said. "I think the Iraqis themselves will turn against this very small group of Al Qaeda. They keep saying the terrorists are going to control Iraq. No way."' www.truthout.org

Well, they had another year of America bringing them Democracy. How did that year work out for them? Does anyone think that 69% of the Iraqis still feel that life will be better in a year? (Of course, I meant the ones that are still alive and haven't voted with their feet and left the country.)

The population of Baghdad has been estimated at anywhere from 4.5 to 6 million, before we invaded. Somerwhere, I've read that as many as 1 million have already left the city. Since Baghdad is where the Green Zone is and has the most US military presence of any similar-sized area, what does that say about our ability to accomplish anything that could be recognized as a mission?

Somebody remind me again - Just whose bright idea was it to invade Iraq anyway? I suppose that we could take some comfort that it will be years, maybe even decades, before the government of Iraq could possibly be a danger to anyone in the region. (Other than its own citizens, of course.) Maybe that is what bush can hang his hat on.