Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE= 3/16/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= PENTAGON / IRAQ (L O)

NUMBER=2-314157

BYLINE= ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE= PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The Pentagon is heartened by a new survey which says most Iraqis believe their lives are better now than before the war -- even though fewer than half approve of the U-S led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. More from V-O-A Defense Correspondent Alex Belida.

TEXT: A Pentagon spokesman calls the new poll encouraging and says, in his words, it "speaks volumes."

Lieutenant Colonel Jim Cassella says "clearly, the majority of Iraqis feel they're better off now than they were under Saddam." He also says the survey, conducted by several Western news organization, also shows Iraqis are "optimistic about their future."

Still, the survey found a narrow majority of those polled, 51-percent, said they oppose the continued presence of foreign troops in Iraq.

But only 15 percent said those troops should leave now. More than a third said they wanted coalition forces to stay until a new Iraqi government has been installed, with another 18 percent calling for troops to remain until security has been restored.

Details of the poll -- and the Pentagon's comments -- come as violence continues in Iraq. In the latest incident, gunmen killed two European water engineers and two Iraqis south of Baghdad, and a translator for the U-S military was killed in a separate shooting in Mosul.

The shootings come one day after gunmen in Mosul attacked a vehicle carrying American civilians working with a Christian relief organization.

Pentagon spokesman Cassella characterizes the attacks as a further sign that what he calls the enemies of freedom in Iraq are growing desperate -- even targeting civilians in Iraq to help the country. (SIGNED)

NEB/BEL/KL/MEM