Despite the impression the MSM strives to create of an Iraq in chaos and on the brink of civil war, that's not the perception of most Iraqis according to this ABC/Time poll:
Surprising levels of optimism prevail in Iraq with living conditions improved, security more a national worry than a local one, and expectations for the future high. But views of the country's situation overall are far less positive, and there are vast differences in views among Iraqi groups - a study in contrasts between increasingly disaffected Sunni areas and vastly more positive Shiite and Kurdish provinces.
An ABC News poll in Iraq, conducted with Time magazine and other media partners, includes some remarkable results: Despite the daily violence there, most living conditions are rated positively, seven in 10 Iraqis say their own lives are going well, and nearly two-thirds expect things to improve in the year ahead.
Not all the results are good, of course, Iraqis are less positive about the outlook for the country as a whole than they are about their own lives, for example, but the fact that most Iraqis are optimistic about their future is an important bit of news. We'll be interested in how the evening news shows and the nation's pundits spin it.