CONTRAST THIS

According to a new poll of some 5,000 Iraqis conducted by Britain's Opinion Research Business:

"49 per cent of those questioned preferred life under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to living under Saddam, while 26 per cent said things were better in Saddam's era, 16 per cent said they were as bad as each other and the rest did not know or refused to answer. . . .

A surprise was that only 27 per cent believed they were caught up in a civil war."

Interestingly, the Financial Times reports:

"The malaise gripping the European Union as it approaches its 50th birthday this week is highlighted in a new poll which shows that 44 per cent of citizens think life has got worse since their country joined the club. . . .

The FT/Harris poll, conducted in the EU's five biggest countries and the US, found that only 25 per cent of the Europeans questioned felt life in their country had improved since it joined the EU."

(Hat tip to James Taranto, Opinion Journal)