http://poll.gallup.com/content/?ci=18718

Quote :

"Support for U.S. Policy in Iraq Is Dwindling Clear majority now says sending troops was a mistake by Lydia Saad GALLUP NEWS SERVICE PRINCETON, NJ -- While the Bush administration is trying to emphasize positive developments on the political front in Iraq, the recent escalation of rebel violence there -- in addition to public concerns about the costs of recovering from Hurricane Katrina -- may be costing President Bush some public support for his Iraq policy. Public approval of Bush's overall handling of the situation in Iraq has tumbled eight points in just the past week, from 40% in a Sept. 8-11 poll to 32% in the most recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Sept. 16-18. In fact, exactly 40% of Americans had approved of Bush's handling of Iraq in each of the previous four measures, dating back to May. Now, for the first time since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing on Iraq. The percentage saying the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq has also reached a new high of 59%, up six points from earlier this month. Also at a record high is the percentage of Americans favoring a reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq. More than 6 in 10 (63%) say the United States should now withdraw all or some of its troops from Iraq -- compared with an average of 55% who said this in August. Only about one-third would prefer to see the number of U.S. forces in that country maintained or strengthened. The shift toward troop withdrawal is seen about evenly among Republicans, independents, and Democrats, just as the decline in Bush's approval rating on Iraq is similar by party. While increased support for troop withdrawal is consistent with the general decline in support for U.S. involvement in Iraq recorded elsewhere in the poll, it could also reflect Americans' view that the costs of rebuilding New Orleans and helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina should be paid with money currently earmarked for Iraq. When given four budgetary options, 54% of Americans choose cutting spending for the war in Iraq as the best way for the government to pay for the problems caused by Hurricane Katrina. Only small fractions of Americans opt for raising taxes (17%), increasing the federal budget deficit (15%), or cutting back on domestic programs (6%). Insurgent Violence Shaking Americans' Resolve? Rebels continue to attack U.S. military targets in Iraq, taking the lives of roughly two American soldiers per day; the total number of U.S. troops killed since the beginning of the Iraq war is expected to surpass 2,000 in November. But this is not likely the cause for the sudden and sharp decline in public support for the Bush administration's Iraq policy seen in the latest poll. Rather, the perception that a civil war may be erupting between Sunni rebels and the Shiite Arab majority could be deepening Americans' sense that Iraq is descending into a quagmire. The Sept. 16-18 poll comes on the heels of what one report described as "the deadliest day of attacks in Baghdad since the invasion of March 2003." Last Wednesday (Sept. 14), a dozen or so suicide bombings and other attacks claimed the lives of more than 150 Iraqi civilians and security personnel, only to be followed by more bombings and more than 30 killed on Thursday. Contrary to this hypothesis, however, a Gallup Poll conducted Sept. 12-15 -- spanning the period of the Baghdad attacks -- found no drop in the percentage of Americans saying it was worth going to war in Iraq. The latest poll found 45% saying it was worth it and 53% not worth it -- nearly identical to an early August poll. Is Katrina a Factor? Another possible explanation for Americans' declining support for the Iraq war could be the financial connection between Iraq and the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Gallup's Sept. 12-15 survey found the percentage of Americans naming Iraq as the nation's most important problem down sharply compared with August (dropping from 27% to 16%) at the same time that 13% mentioned Katrina as the nation's top problem. It is possible that Americans' concerns about the costs involved in hurricane recovery could be draining public support for continued U.S. military involvement in Iraq. An Iraq backlash from Katrina was not evident in Gallup's Sept. 8-11 survey. At that time, attitudes about Bush's handling of Iraq were identical to those measured before Katrina made landfall south of New Orleans on Aug. 29. But as media coverage of Katrina has shifted from rescuing residents and dealing with refugees to the price of recovery, it's quite possible that the link Americans make between Katrina and Iraq has strengthened. Survey Methods These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 818 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Sept. 16-18, 2005. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±4 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls."

[Edited on September 21, 2005 at 7:32 PM. Reason : *]

9/21/2005 7:28:54 PM

if this britain thing blows up

PEACE WE OUT

9/21/2005 8:04:44 PM

after five years of bush standing behind his statements, you still think we'll just cut and run

9/21/2005 8:18:47 PM

WHY GRAPH BOTH APPROVE AND DISAPOVE

how about one?

9/21/2005 8:32:43 PM

1 line graphs are confusing to the typical (read: stupid) american.

9/21/2005 8:35:09 PM

I disagree that we should abandon Iraq.

But these polls show that the Bush admin is losing their stranglehold on Americans.

However, it would be easy for Bush to pull out some troops, and say all along it's what he said he was going to do. Just how he just ignores Osama now, and people don't care about 9/11 anymore.

9/22/2005 12:59:23 AM

No matter how stupid you think invading was, if you think jumping ship now would be a good idea...wow. Just...wow. I had hoped that the American resolve hadn't fallen to French levels.

9/22/2005 2:17:31 AM

bush owes it to iraq to fix things at this point...as screwed up as things are

9/22/2005 2:32:14 AM

hey

have you people ever thought our occupation of this country might not be the solution
but actually the problem

9/22/2005 9:03:49 AM

hey

nope. youre the ONLY one to EVER suggest that. not only that, I can only imagine its 100% true and that by leaving the entire fucking state of Iraq will fall into perfect harmony

get a fucking clue

9/22/2005 9:16:12 AM

has Iraq ever been in perfect harmony? oh right

9/22/2005 9:38:43 AM

^^

AMERICA IS BETTER THAN EVERYONE

we couldn't even avoid our own civil war, we really think we can stop someone else's?

9/22/2005 9:45:07 AM

Quote :

" hey have you people ever thought our occupation of this country might not be the solution but actually the problem"

We pretty much destroyed their gov. infrastructure, and a lot of their actual infrastructure. There's no way we could just leave, and have them stay happy. They might be happy at first, but then realize they don't have electricity or running water, then realize they don't have a gov. to lobby for them to get those things, then they'll blame us. THEN they will actually organize to an international terrorist group for some future Bush (Jeb maybe?) to take care of.

9/22/2005 10:03:16 AM

fine

change my use of the word

"occupation"

to

"means of liberation"

9/22/2005 10:04:54 AM

Why can't they make the damn lines on that graph blue and yellow, or something easier to see? I hate people who make graphs / charts and forget that well over 10% of white males are red green color blind.

9/22/2005 11:32:44 AM

well i'll be

10% of less than 50% of less than 50% of people are colorblind

yes, they really should get to work on catering to that staggering statistic

9/22/2005 11:46:17 AM

Quote :

"Excoriator: after five years of bush standing behind his statements, you still think we'll just cut and run"

After five years, your reading comprehension skills still haven't improved any. Where'd I say that I think we'll just cut and run? Ever?

kk thx

---

Quote :

"GrumpyGOP: I had hoped that the American resolve hadn't fallen to French levels."

I'd think it better to hope for the kind of progress that would prevent American resolve from falling in the first place...

9/22/2005 1:05:40 PM

^^ Well we all know that white men run the country, so of course we should be catered too.


Seriously, how much harder is it to click the blue or yellow or pink or purple or orange or whatever the hell color line button instead of the red and/or green?

9/22/2005 2:27:38 PM