Gallup: Americans Feel We Are 'Worse Off' Because of Iraq War
By E&P Staff
Published: June 15, 2006 11:20 AM ET
NEW YORK While most public opinion polls this week show a slight bounce in President Bush's approval ratings, the most recent Gallup Poll, taken June 9 to 11, reveals that Americans continue to have a negative view of what the war has really accomplished for Americans.
Gallup asked Americans if the war in Iraq had made things better off, the same, or worse off for six entities: the American people, the Iraqi people, the strength and preparedness of the U.S. military, the war on terrorism, the prospects for democracy in the Middle East, and the image of the United States around the world.
The result for that final category was the most clearcut: 6 in 10 Americans said the image of the U.S. was "worse off," with only 11% saying "better off."
Significantly, 42% said that the people of our own country were worse off, with 26% saying better off and 31% "the same." Gallup called this "a decidedly negative tilt in attitudes about the impact of the war on the home front." While in this category, as in all others, Republicans had a more positive view, still only 48% would say that Americans were "better off" because of the war.
Other results were more positive but still very much "ambiguous," as Gallup put it, with none of the views representing a majority.
For example, 48% said they felt the Iraqi people were better off today because of the war -- but the exact same number said they were no better off (19%) or worse off (29%).
Similarly, 4 in 10 said the war had made a positive difference in the war on terrorism, but 26% took the opposite view and 33% said it had not made us safer.
Prospects for democracy in the Middle East? 37% said "better off," 26% worse and 33% the same. |
