Iraq Poll: Field Interviewer Notes

The situation of the neighborhood was good as services are available, but there is no electricity line and there are only private electricity generators shared by people. There is a shortage in fuel and it is very expensive, so people bring cooking and car fuel from the Iranian borders.

March 3, 2007 Province: Basra

I visited the researchers in their sampling points in Basra province and during an interview with a citizen from the assigned sampling point at about 12:30 in the afternoon, there was a clash between two groups. One armed person came over to us when he saw we had a camera and papers. When I told him that we are conducting interviews with citizens and that we are taking pictures to mark the event, he started to fight with us and then he took our camera and broke it. In order not to expand the crisis and to keep the continuity of our work we presented our apology to him for annoying him. We left the region quickly after finishing our last interview. The main reason behind this problem is the unstable security situation in this area, especially if we realize that the business of private research is new for Iraqis who are not familiar with such things. Many people believe that we are doing something against them and that we work for foreign interests.

March 5, 2007 Province: Diyala

In front of me, an explosive went off under an American patrol and the other American patrol started randomly shooting, which almost got all of us killed hadn't it been for the mercy of God Almighty.

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