Iraq Poll: Detailed Field Journals

March 16, 2009 — -- Following, listed by province, are field work journals from some of the interviewers who carried out the latest ABC/BBC/NHK poll in Iraq. See also our full report on the poll here, a methodology sidebar here, chart pack here and photo slideshow here.

Anbar
"In most of the places we went we saw that the elections affected people very much. People are aware of everything which is a different thing from last year."

"The checkpoints and police are increased in the province. Most of the sampling point we go, police stopped us checked our papers and asked about our work. Most of the places we went were destroyed by war."

"We went to Karma area to do our interviews. We learned that a suicide attack aiming police forces happened recently. This did not affect our work but the security was tight in the area."

"In some areas I went there was reconstruction. Workers were trying to fix, pipelines, sewer lines, paving the roads, schools. But people were unable to even walk because of this reconstruction; everywhere is full of hole and raw materials."

"The biggest difference from the last year that people are more cooperative, willing to answer our questions. I think this is due to good security conditions."

Babil
"We went to al-Shakir village on 17 February. First thing we noticed in the village was the bad services. There was limited electricity in the village, no paved roads. People interviewed told us they are facing many kidnapping cases in the village. They told us (of) an armed group usually kidnapping sons of the village for ransom, also this group sometimes attacking police and army, creating fear in the village. Generally people were very warm to us; they easily agreed to take pictures. Most of them asked us to tell the condition of the village to the officials."

"We went to Haj Hassan on 19 Feb 2009. We successfully completed our interviews without any problems but the condition of the village was so bad. We saw big garbage dumps near the streets, no water, no electricity; the condition of the houses we saw and got inside was bad. People were complaining about lack of jobs and some of them sadly lost their sons."

"We went to Al-Askary, usually people were very cooperative with us and only some refused to their photographs taken. The sewer lines are broken in the area everywhere smelled very badly including the houses. We saw some reconstruction work in the area. There is no kidnapping or security problems in the area, the security situation are pretty well. There lots of improvement when I compare the situation of the area with last year, the security is seriously improved, and there is reconstruction."

"When we enter the neighborhood, first thing we noticed was the bad smell. The sewer lines are broken which was causing the smell. The security situation is very good, and people were more cooperative compared to last year. Police and army was everywhere in the neighborhood. We saw some reconstruction process."

"We noticed lots of immigrant returned to their neighborhood again. There are no security concerns in the neighborhood but they are suffering from bad services."

"We went to Al-Msayb area on 18 February. This area was very quiet, no security concerns, no kidnappings, only the services are very bad. No paved roads, no stable electricity, no fuel. Most of them complained about high prices of the farming tools, high prices of limited fuel. They asked us to reach their voices to the officials. We noticed people are more cooperative to participate in our work more than last year."

Baghdad
"It is very hard to work in Baghdad areas. Still in some areas strangers are not welcomed. It is very hard to get in and get out, also hard to convince people to participate in the study."

"There were too many checkpoints and security personnel everywhere, this is lot more when we compared to last year. We noticed that this happened especially after elections. When we were in one of the areas, a bomb went off in one of the Baghdad districts, security got tighter and our job became harder."

"In some areas we went people complained about robbery and kidnappings, especially in Ghazaliya and Saydiya. People often told us, people working with the government get killed."

"I noticed that security is very tight in most of the areas of Baghdad we visited. Some roads are closed to cars, some even to pedestrians."

"I saw some reconstruction effort on some places I went. They repaired the pipelines but did not close the holes. The condition of the roads is very bad. Security situation is better compared to last year, people are very cooperative."

Basra
"I noticed that in the area many people are unemployed. This obviously affected people's level of life. Lack of basic services is another problem. They are suffering from, lack of electricity, fuel, food. On the other hand people were cooperative; we easily take photos of the city."

"There was tension in the area when we arrived. There were rumors about a car with bomb in the city. People were very afraid; first they were not so cooperative. Then after explaining our study, most of them agreed to join. Generally the area is quite safe, we saw lots of reconstruction, construction of schools, and pavement of roads. We were able to photograph some of the reconstruction."

"We went the Thubat area on 19 February. The area is nearly destroyed (as a) result of the war. We did not see any reconstruction effort, people are suffering. All of them we interviewed asked us to deliver their voices to the related government institutions. They asked us to tell them they need services, jobs. People were very cooperative; we did not have any hard time to convince people to join. They also let us to take pictures with them."

"We did not face any problems in the area. We noticed the area is full of electronic shops, computer shops. Security is pretty well, even women are walking in the streets easily. We saw some reconstruction."

"In the area people were very interested in the election results which caught our attention. The condition of the area is very bad due to intense fighting between militia and security forces in the past years. People told us there was some assassination of the candidates before the elections. The reconstruction is very slow, people demand solution for their problems."

"We went to Al-Nakheel area on 17 February. We noticed that the area is very clean, lots of reconstruction is going on, paved roads, gardens, parks for children etc. Nearly all the walls are still covered with election posters, slogans. Unlike other area we visited, the damage in this area due to fighting is quite less. People were very cooperative in the area but the security forces were not."

"We went to Muthafeen area on 18 February. The condition of the area is quite good. We noticed lots of reconstruction is going on, for example new electric power station, sewer lines etc. The Police and army is doing good here, people in the area told us that army and police eliminated armed gangs and militias. People only suffering from unemployment."

"The situation is good in this area. We noticed that people don't trust to Iraq security forces, and they are worried that the security will go bad after British forces gone. Most of the people we interviewed believe that the good security situation in their area is because of British. The area is clean and very organized. We did not see any women in the streets, the area is conservative. Women we interviewed were in Islamic dresses."

"We went to Al-Kareza on 17 February. There were many check points on the roads, but did not create any problems for us. We saw that in the area some houses are complete destroyed. People are generally suffering from unemployment. They want jobs, reconstruction of the destroyed houses. We noticed shops and markets are open till late hours at night due to good security situation. People we interviewed easily let us to take pictures."

"We went to Al-Sarta area on 18 February. We saw many children walking to school with their bags which made me very happy, because it was nearly impossible in the past years. There are schools, teachers, and paved roads in the area. We noticed that there is a very good relationship between the police and inhabitants of the neighborhood; they are cooperating with each other."

Dahuk
"Most of the places I go the security was very good. I noticed lots of constructions, construction of schools, government offices and police stations. All the buildings are very new and modern. Interestingly many of the houses I visited the economic situation was good."

"We went to a rural sampling in Dahuk province. There are no services here; conditions of the roads are very bad. I did not see any construction going on. Just the main road of the village was paved, and the village center was proper. The security situation is good; there are no armed groups or gangs here. People demanded jobs from us."

"We noticed the security situation is very good here. We did not face any problems related with our work. The houses are very modern and new. Many immigrated people, nearly all of them are Christian, started to return to their homes in Dahuk, from Baghdad and Mosul. The churches, Christian organizations are helping these people to return their home and settle. We noticed that large Kurdish forces patrolling the city and Kurdish parties have great effect in the area. Lots of construction is going on like schools, government offices. The services are good in the city, good electric supply, water and heath care."

Dhi Qar
"We went to Al-Aran on 17 February. The area is suffering form lack of services. I saw many garbage areas close to homes. There are some reconstruction is going on, pavement of roads, construction of some government departments. Some people refused to make interviews with us, for some reason. It was easier to complete interviews this year, people were more cooperative."

"We went to Al-Salman area on 21 February. There is some reconstruction in the area but it seems it is progressing very slowly. Lots of garbage piles in the streets, broken sewer lines, and holes in the streets. We did not face any security concerns while interviewing."

"We went to Sumer area on 18 February. The people of the area are very warm. They participated in the study easily. There are projects of sewer lines, roads, sidewalks. The water is very dirty in the neighborhood."

Diyala
"First think I notice in the most places I went is the good security. This year it is pretty good, people easily accepted to interview with us. This made our job easier than last year."

"While (we) were doing interviews explosions in Baquba and Baladrooz happened. Soon after explosion, security operations started, but it did not affected our job."

"We did not face any hardship in terms of security. Only while we were in Al-Katook, security forces come and arrested some people, saying they are members of al Qaeda."

"I did not see any reconstruction effort in places I went. Most of the people are suffering from bad conditions, no services, no job opportunities. Only positive thing is the good security. Also I noticed that, some immigrated families returned to their homes."

Irbil
"We went to Shahidan area on 22 February. We noticed that the area is completely clean and new. Most of the buildings are new and constructed with modern style. The participants welcomed us, they were very cooperative."

"We went to Shorash area on 22 February. The area is in bad condition. The services are very weak, and it is very crowded. There are no proper sewer system, water, and electricity. The roads and sidewalks needs to rebuild. The security is very good and people were more cooperative from last year."

"We went to Sidawa area on 23 February. The services are very bad, although this place is very close to the main city center. The roads are very narrow and nearly destroyed. They are happy with the Kurdish regional government but they demand more improvements."

"We come to the Havalan area and noticed that the area is very new and beautiful. Only a good sewer system is needed. People were only complaining about administrative corruption. They want officials to solve country's problems."

"On 23 February we went to Hay Kurdistan area. The life is pretty normal here, no security concerns. The services are in good condition except electricity. They are complaining about low hours of electricity supply. They told us that after five years electricity is becoming worse."

"We went to Ankawa area on 24 February. The area has Christian population, and it is one of the most beautiful areas in Irbil. This area is very quite; secure once we got there we thought we live in different country not in Iraq. Interestingly many people refused to make interviews with us, did not want to talk about politics. One of the respondents I interviewed told that they keep their problems themselves."

"We went to Khabat on 24 February. The area looks like a desert because of lack of rain. Most of the people started to migrate to the cities, because the government is not taking care of the area and there are no jobs. They think the village will be totally abandoned if the government doesn't do anything."

"We went to Harmota area on 21 February. The area is well improved. A university is operational; services are good compared to other areas. We faced a problem with a household. By the end of our random walk rules we chose a household. First they welcomed us, we explained our work and they agreed to join. Twenty-year-old girl of the family is chosen after applying our birthday method. The father of the family insisted to make interview with him; we explained that we can not. The father got angry, we noticed that it will be unsafe to stay and insist, so we thanked and left the house."

"We went to Rizkary area on 21 February. We faced problems and got refusals in the area. By random walk we chose a household. After knocking the door and going inside we explained our work. We noticed that elder of the family is one of the high rank officials in one of the political parties. He thought we are agents of some kind, working for a rival or another political party. We explained that we are independent and honestly recording citizens' opinions on certain questions, but unfortunately they asked us to leave."

"We went to Beshash village on 21 February. The condition of the village is very bad. The main occupation of the village is farming, but there are no seeds and water to do farming. We spend some time in the village for random walking and choosing households and noticed that many houses were abandoned."

Karbala
"Our project started at the end of the Shia religious visit to Karbala. In most of the places I visited there were lots of security forces, many roads were closed to cars. Because of the visit everywhere was full of garbage piles. Municipality was working hard to remove these."

"In all sampling points I went, I noticed lots of check points and security forces. There are reconstructions going on in various sections of the province, but it is slow. Most of the respondents were complaining about it. Some of the big projects were stopped because contractor stopped the construction and left the city."

"Since it was the Great day of the Prophet Mohammed, many people was walking from Karbala to Najaf province. I saw thousands of young people, men and women, in streets walking to Najaf. Because of that there were huge traffic jams. Most of the people in the sampling points I visited was intensely interested in election results. They were complaining about the Quota system and how they may lose the elections because of the system."

Maysan
"We went to al-Wihda on 18 February. I noticed lots of reconstruction is going and some of them are already finished like, schools, roads, sidewalks, nice gardens for people. We saw children playing in the gardens without garbage dumps, risk of diseases. People were quite cooperative with us to join our study."

"This area was quite interesting. Soon after we arrived to the area, every person in the area was aware that strangers arrived. Later we learned that, due to maintain security and safety people are informing each other from the situation. There was garbage on the streets, dirty sewer water everywhere. There is some reconstruction effort but not enough. People were more cooperative and the condition of the area is better than last year."

"We went to al-Askari on 19 February. We noticed that some of the immigrated Sunnis are moved back into their neighborhood. There are no problems among them; they told us they are good neighbors. The condition of the area is good. There are parks for children, some reconstruction of buildings. We noticed there is a good relation with police in the area."

"The area was interesting. People in this area are very aware of hygiene. They are using some tablets to make the water clean to drink. We learned that these tablets are distributed by health clinics. There is construction of schools, some buildings. It was easy to convince people to participate in our study. We only had some hard time convincing tribe leaders."

"We went to Bany Ghazi village on 18 February. The village is not far from the water treatment station but still did not have clean water. They have many diseases because of the water. Also there is no electricity, no roads. Some of the people left the village, to move in cities because of these conditions."

"We went to Amara area on 20 February. Police stopped when I was taking pictures of the area. They did not cause any trouble and let me go. People were very cooperative, many asked us to deliver their problems to officials. They want, paved roads, water, etc. The security situation is good."

"We went to Al-Kabeer area on 18 February. The neighborhood is improved compared to last year. Some projects are completed, gangs and terrorists disappeared. We did not face any problem like last year. Last year people were not this cooperative, they tried to take my camera."

Muthanna
"We went to Al-Abas area on 20 February. The people of the area are suffering from lack of services. Garbage piles in the middle of the streets, no effort of reconstruction. People were very warm to us, and it was easy to convince people to join."

"We went to Sjary area on 17 February. The area is suffering from lack of services. There are no job opportunities, garbage piles on the streets. First many people thought we are coming from government and started to complain about the services even blamed us. We explained that we are coming from an independent Iraqi company and honestly recording the opinions of people. After that people became very cooperative, even let us to take photographs."

Najaf
"In many sampling points I visited the security condition was very good. There were no explosions, violence, armed gangs. There were security forces everywhere. We did not face any obstacles for our work."

"We went to Askary area to complete interviews. We faced some security problems, one of the respondents called the police soon after we tried to apply our birthday rule. We explained our work to him and the police and continued to our work."

"Most of the places I visited I noticed that people were very busy with the results of the election. They are feeling that the elections were bad and not correctly organized; if the next elections will be like this they won't be voting."

Ninevah
"The security situation was very good; we did not face any problems in any sampling point we went. Everywhere was full of election posters, slogans. The respondents were very cooperative and warm to us."

"Most of the sampling points (where) I went the services were very weak. Roads need to be paved, electricity is not stable, no clean water. People were suffering and complaining about these issues."

"When we were in a sampling point an explosion happened in a close area. Suddenly security forces closed some roads for both cars and pedestrians. We had trouble leaving the area, and waited for some time."

"In one of the urban sampling points in Mosul we had some trouble convincing respondents. We found that one of the family's sons got shot by unknown armed men. At first they get suspicious and rejected to participate in our work. We told them our job, showed officials papers, and then they agreed to join, but we could not convince to take their photographs."

Qadisiyah
"We went to al-Yady area on 17 February. We noticed that the families in the area are poor. There is great unemployment, bad services, very bad health care, no water, no electricity. We only saw one health center, one school. People were very cooperative and the security situation was very good."

"We noticed in the area that condition of the streets are very bad, everywhere is full of garbage and they are very close to homes of the people which is causing diseases. There are no services at all in the area."

"The area is good compared the other places we went. There are many reconstruction works, schools, health centers, government departments. The security situation is also very good."

"We went to Al-Hamza on 20 February. There is good reconstruction in the area. Roads are paved; there are many health centers, new schools. The security is very good and stable here."

Salahuddin
"Everybody we interviewed was talking about the negative and positive effects of the elections. They said that, the promises made before the elections are forgotten now."

"Most of the places I visited people were complaining about bad services. The homes were in bad condition, some of them are nearly destroyed. They are saying no one cares for them; they even can't use their simple right to live. They feel that they are victims of the occupation."

Wasit
"We lived hard time to complete interviews in the area. The people of the area are hard to convince, but we successfully completed our designated number of interviews. There are some services in the area."

"We went to Al-Zahraa on 19 February. The roads are paved, there are sidewalks, and sewer lines are repaired and more stable electricity in the area. There is a water treatment project is going on. But the area is very dirty, lots of garbage in the streets, and a great unemployment. People were more cooperative than the last year."

"We arrived to this village on 19 February. There are no proper roads on the village; also we did not see any reconstruction. There is not enough water for all people in the village. The security situation is not very good; there are kidnappings, robbery etc. People demand roads, school, medical center."

"We went to Alizah area on 20 February. People were very cooperative unlike last year, they happily answered our questions. Also security forces are good in the area; they did not try to prevent us from interviewing. People complained about lack of services, unstable electricity, dirty drinking water, lack of job opportunities. Housing is a problem in the area; some families do not have homes. Nearly each three families live in one house. Some respondents mention that their sons are taken by the security forces without reasons and they never heard about them."

"We went to Damook on 17 February. The condition of the area is good. The roads are paved, we saw reconstruction and the electricity is stable. Most of the people are reconstructing their houses, saying the salaries are now good."

"I noticed many army, police and Sahawa forces patrolling the area. There is lots of garbage in the streets. People told us there are kidnappings, random killings still occur. We did not see any reconstruction work in the area. People were warm to us compared to last year."

"We went to Al-Muallimen on 18 February. There are great reconstruction work is going on in the area. There is a great improvement when we compared to last year. Only some people complained about water and lack of job opportunities especially for newly graduated people. People were very cooperative, agreed to join to our study easily. Only we lived hard time to photograph the respondents especially females."