Rice Says U.S. Has to 'Complete the Job'

March 19, 2007 — -- Four years after the war in Iraq began, ABC News and USA Today released poll results of a survey of more than 2,000 Iraqis and their reports of violence.

Interviewers went door-to-door speaking to Iraqis in person in hundreds of neighborhoods across the country. The Iraqis provided eyewitness reports of bombings, shootings and beatings.

Pollsters bravely canvassed Iraq from the relative quiet in the north, where the region's peace is a source of pride, to the dangerous streets of the western provinces and Baghdad.

One policeman even said, "No one can feel safe."

It's a sentiment that pollsters found is widespread in Iraq.

According to the ABC News/USA Today survey, 80 percent of Iraqis reported attacks nearby, while 53 percent said a close friend or relative has been hurt or killed in the current violence.

This violence has produced a feeling of fundamental insecurity that has sent Iraqi optimism plummeting.

In 2005, 64 percent said they expected their lives to improve. Today only 35 percent expect any improvement over the next year.

The ABC News/USA Today poll did find positive signs. There are now 268 independent newspapers in Iraq. Before the war, there were none. Eighty-nine percent of Iraqis now have cell phones; that's up from just 6 percent three years ago.

Still, for many Iraqis, there is little hope for the future.

For the first time, the number of people who say life is better now than it was under Saddam Hussein has sunk to an all time low of just 42 percent.

So how do they feel about the troop surge? Less than 30 percent of Iraqis believe the surge will help their country, while 82 percent have no confidence in U.S. and coalition forces whatsoever.

Rice Says U.S. Should 'Complete the Job'

Four years since the war started, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told "Good Morning America" anchor Diane Sawyer that the word "perseverance" best describes her mood about the war in Iraq.

"The fact is we've achieved a great deal with the Iraqis but there's much more to do," Rice said on Monday.

While she acknowledged the "tremendous sacrifice" of U.S. troops and "the innocent Iraqis who died," Rice said, "We also have to remember the 21 million Iraqis who voted for a new government, a new life."

Rice also recognized potential disappointment with the current state of the war, but she said the situation is not an easy one.

"I don't doubt that there is disappointment on the part of Iraqis and Americans… that the war has not gone better," she said. "This is a very difficult process… [as is] getting to the point where Iraqis can solve their problems through politics. … I think they're making some progress. … Although I'll be the first to say that there will be hard days ahead."

According to the ABC News/USA Today poll, only one in three people have access to clean drinking water, while the number of people who said they don't have adequate power has increased from over half to 88 percent.

"It's very difficult," Rice said in response to the numbers. "The insurgents have decided to attack electricity supply, to attack oil supply… The new government [with an] investment of nearly $10 billion of their own money is going to be able to do a better job with our help of providing for the Iraqi people."

When asked if the United States should stay another four years, even if troops would endure the same amount of casualties, Rice said yes.

"First we have to recognize the tremendous sacrifice" made by troops, she said, noting that "nothing will lessen the hurt" for their families.

"We need to complete the job. To leave an Iraq in the hands of… killers, to leave it unstable would have untold consequences for the region and our security at home," she said.