Majority in U.S. want troop deadline in Iraq: poll
Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:07 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A narrow majority of Americans now favor setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Iraq and a record number say they disapprove of the war, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Monday.


Fifty-six percent say U.S. forces should be withdrawn eventually even if civil order has not been restored in Iraq, reflecting a continued and gradual departure from the "you break it, you've bought it" sentiment, ABC said.

Fifty-three percent support setting a date for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, up from 47 percent last summer and 39 percent in late 2005.

A large majority of those who support setting a deadline want the 139,000 U.S. troops in Iraq brought home within a year -- half of that group would like them home in six months.

The poll found that 64 percent of Americans now say the war in Iraq was not worth fighting -- up 6 points from last month to a new high.

According to the poll, two-thirds of Americans oppose President George W. Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. An equal number favor reducing U.S. military and financial support if the Iraqis fail to make progress restoring order.

Seventy percent of those polled believe the main blame for failing to control the violence in Iraq rests with its own government, not the United States.

ABC said the Democrat-led Congress continues to hold the upper hand on Iraq but slightly less so than last month. Then 60 percent of Americans trusted the Democrats over Bush to handle the war. Democrats lost ground in the new poll, dropping 6 points to 54 percent.

Democrats generally favor starting to bring the troops home but differ on how quickly and under what circumstances this should happen.

The ABC News/Washington Post telephone poll of 1,082 adults was conducted February 22- 25. The results have a 3-point error margin.



Majority of Americans Support Setting a Deadline for Troop Withdrawal, Poll Finds

By Dan Balz and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 26, 2007; 5:10 PM

With Congress preparing for renewed debate over President Bush's Iraq war policies, a majority of Americans now support setting a deadline for withdrawing U.S. forces from the war-torn nation and also support putting new conditions on the military that could limit the number of personnel available for duty there, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News Poll.

Opposition to Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq remained strong, with two in three Americans registering their disapproval -- 56 percent said they strongly object. The House recently passed a nonbinding resolution opposing the new deployments, but Republicans have successfully blocked consideration of such a measure in the Senate.

Senate Democrats, led by Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (Mich.) and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph I. Biden (Del.) are now preparing another resolution that would have the effect of taking away the authority Bush was granted in 2002 to go to war. The measure would seek to have virtually all combat forces withdrawn from Iraq by the end of March 2008.

The Post-ABC poll found that 53 percent of Americans favored setting a deadline for troop withdrawals. Among those who favored a deadline, 24 percent said they would like to see U.S. forces out within six months and another 21 percent called for the withdrawals to be completed within a year. The rest of those who support a timetable said they did not favor withdrawing all troops until at least a year from now.

This is the first time a Post-ABC News poll has found a majority of Americans supported establishing such a timetable for withdrawal, which has long been resisted by the president and even some Democrats.

Growing numbers of Americans also favored withdrawing U.S. forces, even if civil order in Iraq has not been restored. The poll found that just 42 percent favored keeping troops there until civil order is restored, while 56 percent said the troops should be redeployed to avoid further U.S. casualties even if the sectarian violence is continuing.

Some Democrats have called for cutting off funds for the war. The Post-ABC News poll found that 46 percent of Americans supported restricting funding for the war while a bare majority, 51 percent, opposed it.

There was clear support, however, for the kinds of conditions proposed by Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who wants to establish requirements for the training and resting of military units that would have the effect of limiting the number of troops available to send to Iraq.

Murtha's plan has drawn fire in the House, including from some of his Democratic colleagues, after it was unveiled on a liberal Web site. The Post-ABC News poll, which did not associate the plan with Murtha, found that 58 percent of Americans said they support such new rules. Even some Americans, 21 percent, who supported the president's troop surge said they would favor rules for training and resting troops.

On questions relating to troop withdrawals or setting conditions on the military, there was a substantial gender gap. For example, 51 percent of men said they favored keeping troops in Iraq until civil order is restored, while 35 percent of women supported such a course.

Nearly seven in 10 women supported establishing some rules for training and rest time for troops in order to limit the number of available units for duty in Iraq, while 47 percent of men favored those limits. Similarly, a majority of men opposed setting any deadline for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, while an even larger majority of women would like to see a deadline established.

The latest poll also registered a new low on the question of whether the Iraq war was worth fighting. Just 34 percent responded that the war was worth fighting while 64 percent said it was not -- 51 percent strongly. On this question, 51 percent of military veterans and 53 percent of veteran households said they strongly believe the war was not worth fighting.

Bush's overall approval rating stood at 36 percent, up slightly from 33 percent last month. Sixty-two percent disapproved of the way he is handling his job, with 49 percent of those indicating they strongly disapproved.

Approval of his handling of the Iraq war remained near its all-time low. Thirty-one percent said they approve and 67 percent saying they disapproved, a slight improvement from December, when only 28 percent approved.

Bush also received negative marks on the campaign against terrorism (52 percent disapproved) and on his handling of the economy (55 percent disapproved).

By wide margins, Americans said they trust Democrats in Congress more than Bush to deal with Iraq, health care, the budget, the economy and terrorism. The Democrats' advantage on health care was 37 percentage points, on the budget 27 points, on Iraq and the economy 20 points and on terrorism 13 points.

Overall, however, just 41 percent said they approved of the way Congress is doing its job, while 54 percent disapproved. The disapproval level was marginally higher than a month ago. The low point for congressional approval in the past year came a few weeks before the midterm elections that resulted in Republicans losing their House and Senate majorities, when just 31 percent gave Congress positive marks.

Asked about the performance of new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), 50 percent said they approved and 31 percent said they disapproved. Her disapproval rating a month ago was 25 percent.

On another issue, the poll found that a majority of Americans now distrust the Bush administration on its handling of intelligence. Just 35 percent said they can trust the administration to report potential threats from other countries honestly and accurately, while 63 percent said they cannot.

The administration has been challenged on the quality of the intelligence underpinning its claims that Iran is helping fuel the insurgents in Iraq. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed said they believed the administration has solid evidence to support those claims, while 44 percent disagreed.

At the same time, just 41 percent expressed confidence that the administration will do a good job handling current tensions with Iran, compared with 58 percent who said they were not confident.

The Post-ABC News poll is based on telephone interviews with 1,082 adults and was conducted between last Thursday and Sunday. The margin of sampling error is plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

Polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.



Disapproval on Iraq Hits Record

More Than Half Favor a Deadline for Withdrawal, Bush Suffers Longest Streak Without Majority Support Since Truman

By GARY LANGER, ABC News Polling Director

Feb. 26, 2007 ― - A record number of Americans disapprove of the war in Iraq, and a clear majority now favors the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces, even if civil order has not been restored there -- potentially a tipping point in public attitudes on the war.

While solutions remain vexing, for the first time ABC News/Washington Post polls show a narrow majority of Americans support setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Two-thirds oppose George W. Bush's troop surge; most oppose it strongly.

It all makes for a continued hard slog for the president: Just 36 percent approve of his job performance overall, very near his career low of 33 percent last month. Bush hasn't seen majority approval in more than two years -- the longest run without majority support for any president since Harry Truman from 1950-53.

While rooted in Iraq, Bush's problems with credibility and confidence reach beyond it. Sixty-three percent of Americans don't trust the administration to convey intelligence reports on potential threats from other countries honestly and accurately. And 58 percent lack confidence, specifically, in its ability to handle current tensions with Iran.

Iraq Weighs on President's Popularity

Bush is paying the continued price of an unpopular war. Sixty-four percent now say the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, up six points from last month to a new numerical high. (It was 63 percent in October.) A majority hasn't said the war was worth fighting since April 2004, and it's been even longer since a majority has approved of how Bush is handling it. Sixty-seven percent now disapprove; 55 percent disapprove strongly.

In a fundamental change, 56 percent now say U.S. forces should be withdrawn at some point even if civil order has not been restored in Iraq. That represents a continued, gradual departure from the "you break it, you've bought it" sentiment that until now has mitigated in favor of continued U.S. involvement until some stability is attained.

Another part of this change has been a shift in views on setting a withdrawal date. Given pro and con positions (avoiding casualties vs. encouraging insurgents), support for a deadline has risen from 39 percent in late 2005 to 47 percent last summer and 53 percent now. That's a majority, but not a large one; 46 percent still oppose a deadline, underscoring the difficulty of finding consensus on how to get out of Iraq.

Among those who do support a deadline, 85 percent said it should be within the next year (including 46 percent who said it should be within the next six months), essentially unchanged from previous polls. (Questions on troop withdrawal deadlines depend on the options offered.)

The Blame Game: Advantage Democrats

Views on Iraq are accompanied by a broad sense that the main blame for failing to control the violence in Iraq rests with its own government (70 percent say so), not the United States (18 percent).

Indeed, two-thirds favor reducing U.S. military and financial support if the Iraqis fail to make progress restoring order -- one of the popular steps proposed by the Iraq Study Group in December, but not taken up by Bush. (Another is the group's proposal for a shift to a military training mission, with most U.S. combat forces withdrawn by early 2008; at the time of the proposal, 69 percent supported it.)

The Democrats in Congress continue to hold the upper hand on Iraq (as well as more generally), but slightly less so than last month. Then 60 percent of Americans trusted the Democrats over Bush to handle the war; today, it's 54 percent.

The current political wrangling over Iraq may be a cause, as well as an almost inevitable comedown from the Democrats' election victory in November.

While 50 percent still approve of Nancy Pelosi's work as House speaker, her disapproval is up by six points, to 31 percent. (Comparing powerful Washington women, she's bettered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with 58 percent approval. Both vastly outshine Bush.)

One Democratic proposal on Iraq -- to block Bush's surge by changing troop rotation rules -- wins 58 percent support. But another -- restricting funding for the war in an effort to block the surge -- is more divisive, with 46 percent in favor and a slim majority, 51 percent, opposed. Military funding is sensitive with troops in the field.

The Democrats continue to lead Bush in other areas as well, including a 52-39 percent advantage in trust to handle terrorism (once Bush's cornerstone issue, a majority has disapproved of his work on terrorism steadily since October). The Democrats lead by wider margins in trust to handle the economy, despite its relatively good condition; the federal budget; and health care, with no gain for Bush from his State of the Union proposal to move health insurance tax breaks from corporations to individuals.

Iran's Role

The public divides about evenly on whether or not the administration has solid evidence that Iran is supporting insurgent attacks on U.S. forces.

As noted, though, more broadly, 63 percent don't trust the administration to report intelligence on threats from foreign nations honestly and accurately. That lack of trust can make it very hard to marshal public support when needed.

Nearly six in 10 also say they're not confident the administration will do a good job of handling the tensions with Iran. Just 11 percent are very confident it will handle this issue well; three times as many, 34 percent, are not confident at all.

Underscoring his problems, even among Republicans, just 28 percent are very confident in Bush's ability to deal with Iran, while among Democrats, 55 percent have no confidence whatsoever.

The Fight for Afghanistan

Views on the war in Afghanistan stand in contrast to those on Iraq.

A majority of Americans, 56 percent, say the war in Afghanistan was worth fighting, 22 points more than say that about the Iraq War.

But given broader, negative sentiment, there's hardly robust support for expanded U.S. commitment in Afghanistan: Six in 10 say the United States is "doing enough" to help rebuild that county.

If there's a strong case for expanded U.S. support for Afghanistan, as the administration has proposed, most Americans haven't been persuaded.

Longest Streak Since Truman

As noted, Bush hasn't received majority approval in any ABC/Post poll in the last two years -- specifically in 25 months, since Jan. 16, 2005.

Compared with ABC/Post polls since the Reagan presidency, and Gallup polls before them, that's the longest run with less than majority approval for any president since Truman.

It's worth noting not just the length and breadth but also the continued depth of Bush's unpopularity. Barely two in 10 Americans (19 percent) strongly approve of his job performance, while 49 percent strongly disapprove.

As noted, 55 percent strongly disapprove of his work on Iraq, while just 17 percent strongly approve. And in a more personal measure, 29 percent are "angry" about the administration's work in Iraq, while just 7 percent are pleased.

And beyond customary partisanship, there are other sharp differences between groups, though partisanship fuels some of them.

Among blacks, for example, just 9 percent approve of Bush's job performance, and just 11 percent say that, given its costs versus benefits, the war was worth fighting.

This is largely (but not exclusively) because blacks overwhelmingly are Democrats. (Among Democrats, 8 percent approve of Bush, and the same number call the war worth fighting.)

In addition to blacks, sentiment against the war peaks among women and young adults. Sixty-three percent of women and 67 percent of people under 30 favor withdrawing U.S. forces even if civil order is not restored. Many fewer men (48 percent) or older adults (53 percent) agree.

This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Feb. 22-25, 2007, among a random national sample 1,082 adults, including an oversample of black respondents. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, PA.

To read the full poll, click here.

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