Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
By WILL LESTER - Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - (AP) A solid majority of Americans oppose
immediately pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, citing as a main reason the
desire to finish the job of stabilizing the country, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
Some 57 percent of those surveyed said the U.S. military should stay
until Iraq is stabilized, while 36 percent favor an immediate troop
withdrawal. A year ago, 71 percent of respondents favored keeping troops in
Iraq until it was stabilized.
In an effort to build public support for his Iraq policy, President
Bush planned an Oval Office address for Sunday night to discuss the U.S.
mission and what lies ahead in 2006.
The speech will be his first from the Oval Office since March 2003
when he announced the invasion of Iraq. In the past two weeks, the president
has given four speeches on Iraq.
In the poll, when people were asked in an open-ended question the
main reason the U.S. should keep troops in Iraq, 32 percent said to
stabilize the country and 26 percent said to finish the rebuilding job under
way.
Only one in 10 said they wanted to stay in Iraq to fight terrorism;
just 3 percent said to protect U.S. national security.
"You've got to finish the job," said Terry Waterman, a store manager
from Superior, Wis. "The whole world is looking to us for leadership. We
can't have another Vietnam."
Other recent polling has found that when given additional options,
many people favor a step somewhere in between having troops leave
immediately and staying until the country is stabilized.
After months of unrelenting violence, millions of Iraqis turned out
this past week to choose a parliament. Early estimates placed the voter
turnout close to 70 percent of 15 million Iraqis voting.
Some 49 percent of Americans now say the war with Iraq was a
mistake, according to the poll of 1,006 adults conducted Tuesday through
Thursday. That compares with 53 percent in August. Two years ago, only 34
percent of those surveyed said the war was a mistake.
Two years ago, after ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was
captured, 64 percent of respondents said the war was the right thing to do.
Now, 42 percent say it was the right decision.
Over the past two years, some of the biggest shifts on whether the
war was a good decision or a mistake have come among married people with
children, those with low incomes and those with a high school education or
less.
"Whether the war is a mistake is less relevant than what we should
do now," said John McAdams, a political scientist at Marquette University in
Milwaukee. "A fair number of people may think it's a mistake, but still
don't want to lose."
WASHINGTON - (AP) A solid majority of Americans oppose
immediately pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, citing as a main reason the
desire to finish the job of stabilizing the country, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
Some 57 percent of those surveyed said the U.S. military should stay
until Iraq is stabilized, while 36 percent favor an immediate troop
withdrawal. A year ago, 71 percent of respondents favored keeping troops in
Iraq until it was stabilized.
In an effort to build public support for his Iraq policy, President
Bush planned an Oval Office address for Sunday night to discuss the U.S.
mission and what lies ahead in 2006.
The speech will be his first from the Oval Office since March 2003
when he announced the invasion of Iraq. In the past two weeks, the president
has given four speeches on Iraq.
In the poll, when people were asked in an open-ended question the
main reason the U.S. should keep troops in Iraq, 32 percent said to
stabilize the country and 26 percent said to finish the rebuilding job under
way.
Only one in 10 said they wanted to stay in Iraq to fight terrorism;
just 3 percent said to protect U.S. national security.
"You've got to finish the job," said Terry Waterman, a store manager
from Superior, Wis. "The whole world is looking to us for leadership. We
can't have another Vietnam."
Other recent polling has found that when given additional options,
many people favor a step somewhere in between having troops leave
immediately and staying until the country is stabilized.
After months of unrelenting violence, millions of Iraqis turned out
this past week to choose a parliament. Early estimates placed the voter
turnout close to 70 percent of 15 million Iraqis voting.
Some 49 percent of Americans now say the war with Iraq was a
mistake, according to the poll of 1,006 adults conducted Tuesday through
Thursday. That compares with 53 percent in August. Two years ago, only 34
percent of those surveyed said the war was a mistake.
Two years ago, after ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was
captured, 64 percent of respondents said the war was the right thing to do.
Now, 42 percent say it was the right decision.
Over the past two years, some of the biggest shifts on whether the
war was a good decision or a mistake have come among married people with
children, those with low incomes and those with a high school education or
less.
"Whether the war is a mistake is less relevant than what we should
do now," said John McAdams, a political scientist at Marquette University in
Milwaukee. "A fair number of people may think it's a mistake, but still
don't want to lose."