AN INTERESTING POLL.

There is some good news and some not so good news.

And one wonders just what the Arabs would attribute all their troubles too but for oil and the Jews.

THREE in four Baghdad residents say the city is now more dangerous than when Saddam Hussein was in power, and most locals think Britain and America went to war to take Iraq's oil, according to a new survey.

However, the Channel 4 News and the Spectator survey shows that, despite these deep concerns, only a minority oppose the coalition invasion, and as few as one in eight wants the invaders to leave the country straight away.

Among the findings of the YouGov poll of almost 800 people throughout Baghdad last week was that Iraqis want the occupying troops to restore normality quickly and then hand the country back to the Iraqis.

A total of 50% said they believed the war against Saddam's regime was right - just 27% said it was wrong.

Offered a list of five possible reasons for the war, 47% said it was "to secure oil supplies", 41% said it was "to help Israel" and just 23% said the allies' aim was "to liberate the people of Iraq".