Iraqis Feel Safer Now That U.S. Troops Are Gone
About 350 people were dying each month in Iraq as U.S. troops prepared to leave at the end of 2011, and many in the international community feared Iraqi security forces wouldn't be able to contain the country's violence on their own.
But according to a survey released by Gallup Tuesday, more Iraqis report that security in the country has gotten better (42 percent) than worse (19 percent) now that U.S. troops are gone.
While some military analysts feared that Iraqi security forces would fail to fill the security vacuum left in the absence of U.S. forces, which numbered 170,000 at their height, many Iraqis now perceive security to have been positively impacted by the U.S. departure.
Meanwhile, far more Iraqis said political stability, corruption, and the jobs and unemployment picture has gotten worse since the withdrawal.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/03/iraqis-feel-safer-now-that-us-troops-are-gone/273973/