"Given that the numbers of insurgents now fighting in Iraq are believed to outnumber coalition forces, how do they propose to provide security for the polls."

Akenaton - What is the basis for this ludicrous statement? Or, as normal, is it just something that you have conjured up.

"Sunni's... Vote or Die" - Well that would be progress as in the past under Saddam it was "Everybody Vote or Die". Only then there was not the choice of 226 parties and 7,000 candidates it was one Party and one candidate.

Iraq Survey reported by BBC:

"Interviewers found that 71% of those questioned said things were currently very or quite good in their personal lives, while 29% found their lives very or quite bad.

A degree of optimism

When asked whether their lives would improve in the coming year, 64% said things would be better and 12% said they expected things to be worse.

However, Iraqis appear to have a more negative view of the overall situation in their country, with 53% answering that the situation is bad, and 44% saying it is good.

But they were more hopeful for the future - 69% expect Iraq to improve, while 11% say it will worsen.

Although the majority of Iraqis were optimistic about the future, the poll found significant regional variations in responses.

In central Iraq respondents were far less optimistic about the situation in one year's time than those in Baghdad, the south and north.

The BBC News website's World Affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says the survey shows a degree of optimism at variance with the usual depiction of the country as one in total chaos.

The findings are more in line with the kind of arguments currently being deployed by US President George W Bush, he says."