At variance with certain depictions

The BBC reports a survey from Iraq, carried out by Oxford Research International for the BBC itself and other media organizations, and with a result that might be considered surprising:

An opinion poll suggests Iraqis are generally optimistic about their lives, in spite of the violence that has plagued Iraq since the US-led invasion.
.....
Interviewers found that 71% of those questioned said things were currently very or quite good in their personal lives, while 29% found their lives very or quite bad.

When asked whether their lives would improve in the coming year, 64% said things would be better and 12% said they expected things to be worse.

However, Iraqis appear to have a more negative view of the overall situation in their country, with 53% answering that the situation is bad, and 44% saying it is good.

But they were more hopeful for the future - 69% expect Iraq to improve, while 11% say it will worsen.

This passage is worth noting:

The BBC News website's World Affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says the survey shows a degree of optimism at variance with the usual depiction of the country as one in total chaos.

The findings are more in line with the kind of arguments currently being deployed by US President George W Bush, he says.

A depiction comes, of course, from depicters. And why Iraqis might share any of the thoughts of George Bush is not for me to speculate about; but if you go to the panel 'What ordinary Iraqis say about how life has changed' and click through the link there ('In pictures'), you'll find Iraqis saying things like this:

The US invasion was a really good thing and the presence of the US troops is really important now.
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The US troops were really welcomed at first because they helped us to get rid of Saddam, but people have started complaining about their behaviour, they cause much trouble to Iraqis these days especially in the streets and I hope that we don't need them in one year.
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I don't want US troops in Iraq forever but we need them for the meantime and I think we need one or two years before we can depend on ourselves.
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We always wished that someone would save us from Saddam's regime and the US troops did that. I really don't want them to leave for the time being.

You know, it is possible to experience many 'depictions' from which these kinds of sentiment are missing. It's a puzzle. (Thanks: RB.)