"We see our liberation as the start of a friendship with the U.S. and the U.K. that should last a thousand years," says Khalid Kishtaini, one of Iraq's leading novelists. "The U.S. and the U.K. showed that a friend in need is a friend indeed. Nothing can change that."
*SNIP*
Even the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr now says that "some good" could come out of the coalition's presence in Iraq. "The coalition must help us stabilize the situation," he says. "The healing period that we need would not be possible if we are suddenly left alone."

Tough situation all the way around, I think polls don't tell the tale there, because guys that hate the US aren't going to exactly line up for a poll are they? LOL

The bust into poeples homes tactics doesn't help either, though I see the reason.

One month, said the gaunt, unshaven and angry Khairallah. That's how long he gave the British forces occupying Basra to bring electricity, water and fuel. After that, more riots would ensue. "But not with rocks," he said, nodding his head. "With guns."

An uneasy calm returned to Basra today after two days of unrest -- some of the worst in Iraq since U.S.-led forces overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein on April 9. But no one in this weary southern city -- neither the British officials blamed for its plight, nor residents whose mounting frustration mirrors the spiraling temperatures -- seemed to think that the worst was behind them. ..
Over the weekend, hundreds of people flooded into Basra's streets, taking British soldiers by surprise. Gangs of youths, some shirtless, barricaded roads with burning tires and threw rocks and chunks of concrete at the troops and vehicles thought to be owned by aid organizations and foreigners, in particular Kuwaitis, who are resented for their wealth and widely believed on the streets here to be smuggling oil out of the country.

British troops wearing riot gear fired shots into the air to disperse crowds. Two people were killed Sunday, witnesses and officials said, but some residents said the toll was higher.

British forces began releasing their own fuel reserves to alleviate the shortages, said Maj. Garry Pinchen, a spokesman. Troops today escorted fuel shipments to the city's 10 gas stations, where soldiers rationed gasoline at 25 liters (about 6 1/2 gallons) per car. After long droughts of electricity, power was restored to three hours on, three hours off.

"We have to solve one problem at a time," Pinchen said.

In a country devastated by war, more than a decade of sanctions and years of often willful neglect, Basra's problems are especially acute. British officials blame the loss of electricity -- at one point it was available 20 hours a day -- on looting, an increase in demand because of the hot weather and a breakdown in one of two major power stations. That, in turn, has slowed oil refining and delivery of fuel to gas stations. Backup generators are old and inefficient. Smuggling of fuel has made matters worse, they said.

The oil pipeline from Basra to Nasriyah was recently sabotaged, and silt has blocked half the main canal that brings drinking water to Basra. That has intensified residents' complaints that water, when available, is salty.