While many in the West get their knickers in a twist over Iraq, the people most directly affected seem happier with things. Yet strangely they don't feel happy about those who actually liberated them.

A year after U.S. and British troops invaded Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, the majority of Iraqis say life is better than it was under the former dictator, according to results of an extensive poll released Tuesday. But many have little faith in occupying troops and the U.S.-led administration -- and nearly one in five say attacks on foreign soldiers in Iraq are justified.

Asked whether their lives were better now than in the spring of 2003, nearly six in ten Iraqis said the situation was somewhat better or much better than it was, according to the survey of 2,500 people conducted for a group of broadcasting organizations by Oxford Research International...

Iraqis often complain about a lack of security, the scarcity of jobs and their fears for the future, but the survey suggests that despite this, most feel life has improved.

Asked how things were going in their lives these days, seven in 10 said the situation was very good or quite good, and only 15 percent said things were very bad. Looking ahead, 71 percent said they expected conditions in their lives to be much better or somewhat better a year from now...

While half of those questioned believe the invasion was the right thing to do, compared with 39 percent who said it was wrong, more than four in 10 said they had no confidence whatsoever in U.S. and British occupation troops, and 51 percent oppose the presence of coalition forces in Iraq.

Who would have thought it?