ABCNEWS, BBC and Time Rate Iraq in 2004

March 14, 2004 -- -- Almost a year after the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, five teams of reporters from ABCNEWS, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and Time magazine fanned out across Iraq to assess the situation in the oil-rich, battle-scarred Middle Eastern nation.

In the second such assessment of the country since the Iraq War began, three news teams from ABCNEWS, one from Time and another from the BBC visited 36 cities and towns across the country and conducted interviews with more than 1,300 Iraqis.

Like the first comprehensive assessment -- which was conducted six months after President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003 -- the teams discussed a range of social, cultural, political and economic conditions with average Iraqis.

The topics included security, health care, education, electricity, water supply, the quality of local government, the availability of jobs and the availability of goods -- issues that were assessed in depth four months ago.

But this time, the project was more comprehensive than it was at the six-month mark, with more areas covered and more interviews conducted.

For all the assessment criteria earmarked, news teams asked Iraqis: Has the situation improved? Worsened? Or have things remained roughly as they were before the war began? The results were often fractious, sometimes surprising, but always illuminating.

What We Found

By nearly every quantifiable measure, the situation has improved since before the war -- and also since our last effort.

However, the one exception -- security -- also happens to be the yardstick that Iraqis say matters most.

Iraqis by a wide margin express optimism for the future -- and believe democracy can take hold; they are less certain that the country is ready for elections.

Any credit or praise for the United States is heavily tempered; roughly eight in 10 Iraqis told us the Americans have not kept their promises -- and they frequently told our reporters they blame the United States for problems in their lives.