Iraqis security better since US left

Since the United States withdrew its combat forces in Iraq, more Iraqis report security to be better than worse, a Gallup poll published Tuesday indicated. The poll, conducted in Iraq in October, found 42 percent of Iraqis said security was better a little more than a year after the U.S. pullout and 19 percent said it was worse. Iraqis said the U.S. pullout affected other areas more unevenly, with many saying the country's economic and political climate has deteriorated because of the withdrawal, results indicated Iraq's Sunni community views the situation more negatively than the country's Shiite population, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. Results indicated Sunnis were significantly more likely than Shiites to see corruption as worsening after the U.S. pullout, 69 percent compared with 39 percent. Also, results indicated 73 percent of Sunnis said the country's jobs and unemployment situation worsened since the U.S. withdrawal, compared with 60 percent of Shiites. Results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults in Iraq conducted Oct. 8-22. The margin of error for the total sample is 3.9 percentage points