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Support for U.S. Troops in Iraq Rebounds

Support for U.S. Troops in Iraq Rebounds

Back to level of last summer

by David W. Moore and Joseph Carroll

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey finds an increase in support for the war in Iraq. Since the end of September, the number of Americans saying the war was worth it has increased. In the past month, support for keeping American troops in Iraq has also increased. A clear majority of Americans continue to support the U.S. decision to go to war in Iraq, but less than a majority approve of how well the United States is doing there now. Still, Americans are more optimistic than pessimistic about the long-term situation in Iraq.

Majority of Americans Say Situation in Iraq "Worth" Going to War Over

The poll, conducted Dec. 5-7, finds that 59% of Americans say the situation with Iraq was worth going to war over, while 39% say it was not worth it. Since the end of September, when 50% said the war was worth it and 48% said it was not, there has been a steady increase toward a more positive assessment.

All in all, do you think the situation in Iraq
was worth going to war over, or not?

While the public is generally supportive of the original decision to go to war, it is much less sanguine about how well the United States has been doing since the major fighting ended last April. By a 60% to 39% margin, Americans approve of the decision to go to war in Iraq. But Americans are slightly more likely to disapprove (51%) than approve (46%) of how the United States has handled the situation with Iraq since major fighting ended.

Do you approve or disapprove of the United States' decision to go to war with Iraq in March of this year?
Do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. has handled the situation with Iraq since the major fighting ended in April?
Dec. 5-7, 2003

Current approval of how the United States has handled the situation is up slightly since mid-November, when 42% approved, but is essentially the same as what Gallup measured at the end of October. Immediately following the end of major fighting in April, 80% approved.

One way of looking at the public today:

  • Forty-one percent of Americans both approve of the decision to go to war against Iraq and approve of how the situation there is being handled.
  • Thirty-three percent disapprove of both the decision to go to war and how it is being handled now.
  • Eighteen percent approve of the basic decision to go to war, but disapprove of how it is being handled now.
  • Eight percent have other combinations of attitudes or are unsure.

Not surprisingly, Democrats and Republicans show little agreement on this issue.

  • Eighty-six percent of Republicans say the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over, compared with just 35% of Democrats. Fifty-eight percent of independents feel it was worth going to war over.
  • Similarly, 90% of Republicans, in comparison with 35% of Democrats and 58% of independents, approve of the U.S. decision to go to war with Iraq last March.
  • Public opinion is more critical of U.S. actions since major fighting ended than it is about the initial decision. Three in four Republicans approve of the way the United States has handled the situation in Iraq since April, compared with a quarter of Democrats and about 4 in 10 independents.

While Americans are still pessimistic about how the United States is now handling the situation in Iraq, Americans remain optimistic about the future situation in Iraq. Just about half of all respondents (48%) say the U.S. situation in Iraq will be better a year from now. Four in 10 adults say the situation will be the same, and roughly 1 in 10 say it will be worse a year from now.

A year from now, do you think the U.S. situation in Iraq will be better, worse or about the same as now?
Dec. 5-7, 2003

Public More Supportive of Maintaining or Increasing Number of Troops in Iraq

A majority of Americans, 55%, say the United States should keep at least the same level of forces it currently has -- including 22% who want to increase troop strength. About 4 in 10 (42%) want to withdraw at least some troops -- including 17% who want complete withdrawal.

In early November, Americans were about evenly divided on this issue, with 49% in favor of keeping the same number of troops or increasing them, and 48% preferring withdrawal.

Which comes closest to your view about what the U.S. should now do about the number of U.S. troops in Iraq --the U.S. should send more troops to Iraq, the U.S. should keep the number of troops as it is now, the U.S. should withdraw some troops from Iraq, or the U.S. should withdraw all of its troops from Iraq?

Public Confidence in U.S. Accomplishing Goals in Iraq Down From This Summer

When Americans are asked to rate their confidence in the United States' ability to accomplish a variety of goals in Iraq, establishing a stable democratic government ranks the highest, with 54% saying they are very (13%) or somewhat confident (41%). Less than half are confident that the United States will be able to capture or kill Saddam Hussein (17% very and 32% somewhat confident), or that the United States will be able to stop the attacks against U.S. soldiers (12% very and 36% somewhat confident). Roughly 4 in 10 adults say they are confident that the United States will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (13% very confident and 28% somewhat confident). (The list also included capturing or killing Osama bin Laden and found that 4 in 10 adults are at least somewhat confident the United States will be able to achieve this goal.)

Confidence That the U.S. Will Achieve Goals in Iraq
Based on percentage
"very confident" or "somewhat confident"
Dec. 5-7, 2003

Since July, public confidence in the United States' ability to capture of kill Hussein dropped substantially, from 68% to 49% in the current survey. Americans are now also much less confident that the United States will be able to find weapons of mass destruction, down 11 points from 52% in July to 41% most recently. Confidence appeared to decline just slightly among Americans in the United States' ability to establish a stable democratic government (58% to 54%) and to stop the attacks against U.S. soldiers (51% to 48%).

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,004 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Dec. 5-7, 2003. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 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.

All in all, do you think the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over, or not?

 

Worth
going to war

Not worth
going to war

No
opinion

%

%

%

2003 Dec 5-7

59

39

2

2003 Nov 14-16

56

42

2

2003 Nov 3-5 ^

54

44

2

2003 Oct 24-26

54

44

2

2003 Oct 6-8 ^

55

44

1

2003 Sep 19-21

50

48

2

2003 Sep 8-10

58

40

2

2003 Aug 25-26

63

35

2

2003 Jul 25-27

63

34

3

2003 Jul 18-20

63

35

2

2003 Jun 27-29

56

42

2

2003 Apr 14-16 †

73

23

4

2003 Apr 9 †‡

76

19

5

2003 Apr 7-8 †

67

30

3

2003 Mar 24-25 ^ †

68

29

3

2003 Jan 3-5 ^ †

53

42

5

^

Asked of a half sample.

WORDING: All in all, do you think the current situation in Iraq is worth going to war over, or not?

Polls conducted entirely in one day, such as this one, are subject to additional error or bias not found in polls conducted over several days.



Do you approve or disapprove of the United States' decision to go to war with Iraq in March of this year?

 

Approve

Disapprove

No opinion

2003 Dec 5-7

60%

39

1



Do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. has handled the situation with Iraq since the major fighting ended in April?

 

Approve

Disapprove

No opinion

%

%

%

2003 Dec 5-7

46

51

3

2003 Nov 14-16 ^

42

55

3

2003 Oct 24-26 ^

47

50

3

2003 Apr 22-23 ^ †

80

18

2

^

WORDING: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. has handled the situation with Iraq since the major fighting ended?

Based on a half sample.



Which comes closest to your view about what the U.S. should now do about the number of U.S. troops in Iraq – [ROTATED: the U.S. should send more troops to Iraq, the U.S. should keep the number of troops as it is now, the U.S. should withdraw some troops from Iraq, (or) the U.S. should withdraw all of its troops from Iraq]?

 


Send more
troops


Keep as
it is now

Withdraw
some
troops


Withdraw
all troops


No
opinion

%

%

%

%

%

2003 Dec 5-7

22

33

25

17

3

2003 Nov 3-5 ^

17

32

29

19

3

2003 Oct 24-26 ^

14

27

39

18

2

2003 Aug 25-26 ^

15

36

32

14

3

^ WORDING: Which comes closest to your view about what the U.S. should now do about the number of U.S.

troops in Iraq – [ROTATED: the U.S. should send more troops to Iraq, the U.S. should keep the number of troops

as it is now, the U.S. should begin to withdraw some troops from Iraq, (or) the U.S. should withdraw all of its troops from Iraq]?



How confident are you that the U.S. will – [RANDOM ORDER]—very confident, somewhat confident, not too confident, or not confident at all?

A. Capture or kill Saddam Hussein

 


Very
confident


Somewhat
confident


Not too confident

Not confident
at all


No
opinion

%

%

%

%

%

2003 Dec 5-7

17

32

27

23

1

2003 Jul 25-27

31

37

20

11

1

2003 Jun 27-29

18

30

29

20

3

2003 Mar 29-30

36

34

17

11

2



B. Find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

 


Very
confident


Somewhat
confident


Not too
confident

Not
confident
at all


No
opinion

%

%

%

%

%

2003 Dec 5-7

13

28

29

29

1

2003 Jul 25-27

21

31

26

20

2

2003 Jun 27-29

22

31

25

20

2

2003 Mar 29-30

52

32

10

5

1



C. Establish a stable democratic government in Iraq

 


Very
confident


Somewhat
confident


Not too
confident

Not
confident
at all


No
opinion

%

%

%

%

%

2003 Dec 5-7

13

41

28

17

1

2003 Jul 25-27

13

45

26

15

1

2003 Jun 27-29

15

40

28

16

1

2003 Mar 29-30

20%

45

22

12

1



D. Be able to stop the attacks against U.S. soldiers in Iraq

 


Very
confident


Somewhat
confident


Not too
confident

Not
confident
at all


No
opinion

%

%

%

%

%

2003 Dec 5-7

12

36

27

24

1

2003 Jul 25-27

15

36

30

18

1

2003 Jun 27-29

18

37

26

18

1



E. Capture or kill Osama bin Laden

 


Very confident


Somewhat confident


Not too confident

Not confident
at all


No
opinion

2003 Dec 5-7

12%

29

29

29

1

2001 Nov 2-4 ^

27%

39

22

9

3

^ WORDING: How confident are you that each of the following will happen -- very confident, somewhat confident, not too confident, or not at all confident? How about -- The U.S. will capture or kill Osama bin Laden



A year from now, do you think the U.S. situation in Iraq will be better, worse or about the same as now?

 

Better

Worse

Same

No opinion

2003 Dec 5-7

48%

11

40

1




Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/9955/Support-US-Troops-Iraq-Rebounds.aspx
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