Obama's Ratings on Iraq Up After Speech, but Most Believe War Will Go On
Bruce Drake
Contributing Editor
Posted:
09/3/10
President Obama's poll numbers for his handling of Iraq have gone up following his Oval Office speech declaring the U.S. combat mission at an end, but an overwhelming majority of Americans believe the war wasn't worth fighting and the conflict in that country is not over, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Sept. 1-2. (Story, poll).
Fifty-seven percent said they approved of Obama's handling of Iraq while 41 percent disapproved compared to mid-July when the public was split at 49 percent each.
Eighty percent believe the war is not over. The question is not clear as to whether that meant it was not over for the U.S. or the Iraqis. But presumably it means that Americans believe the war in Iraq will go on without American combat involvement since two-thirds say it is very or somewhat unlikely the Iraqi government will be able to maintain order.
(The question was: Based on what you have heard or read about the events in Iraq over the past few weeks, do you think that for all intents and purposes, the war in Iraq is over, or not?)
Only 4 percent considered the U.S. effort a victory and 1 percent said it was a defeat.
Forty percent say that U.S. combat troops should have been removed before now, 28 percent said this was the right time, 25 percent favored their removal but at a later date and 6 percent say troops should be there permanently.
Republican critics of Obama, most prominently Sarah Palin, faulted him for not giving former President Bush credit for the 2007 "surge" in which Bush committed 20,000 additional troops to help put down the insurgency in Iraq. Sixty percent said they regarded the surge as a success while 33 percent did not, with 7 percent undecided or of mixed opinions. That compared to July, 2008, when the margin considering the surge a success was 52 percent to 41 percent.
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Fifty-seven percent said they approved of Obama's handling of Iraq while 41 percent disapproved compared to mid-July when the public was split at 49 percent each.
Eighty percent believe the war is not over. The question is not clear as to whether that meant it was not over for the U.S. or the Iraqis. But presumably it means that Americans believe the war in Iraq will go on without American combat involvement since two-thirds say it is very or somewhat unlikely the Iraqi government will be able to maintain order.
(The question was: Based on what you have heard or read about the events in Iraq over the past few weeks, do you think that for all intents and purposes, the war in Iraq is over, or not?)Only 4 percent considered the U.S. effort a victory and 1 percent said it was a defeat.
Forty percent say that U.S. combat troops should have been removed before now, 28 percent said this was the right time, 25 percent favored their removal but at a later date and 6 percent say troops should be there permanently.
Republican critics of Obama, most prominently Sarah Palin, faulted him for not giving former President Bush credit for the 2007 "surge" in which Bush committed 20,000 additional troops to help put down the insurgency in Iraq. Sixty percent said they regarded the surge as a success while 33 percent did not, with 7 percent undecided or of mixed opinions. That compared to July, 2008, when the margin considering the surge a success was 52 percent to 41 percent.
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