Interesting poll numbers out.....
NEWSWEEK POLL
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NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifty-nine percent of Americans say last week's killing of Saddam Hussein's two sons is unlikely to reduce the number of attacks on U.S. military personnel by Iraqis loyal to the deposed government, the latest Newsweek Poll shows. However, from what they know now, 68 percent of those polled think that the U.S. did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq last March. Sixty-nine percent say it's very important that the U.S. kill or capture Saddam Hussein and remove any serious doubts that he remains at large. Meanwhile, 82 percent of those polled think that Saddam Hussein is probably still alive.
In response to the attacks on U.S. military personnel since major combat ended, a significant majority (71%) would support turning over some authority for rebuilding Iraq to the United Nations. However, Americans are more evenly split over whether troops should be withdrawn from Iraq (46% say they should; 49% disagree), but a majority of respondents to the Newsweek Poll says the number of military personnel in Iraq should not be increased (55% say no; 40% say they should). And 53 percent would support more aggressive action by U.S. forces to stop the violence, even if it meant greater risk of civilian casualties (40% disagree).
When it comes to the continuing controversy over intelligence concerning Iraq, 56 percent of those polled think the Bush administration did not purposely mislead the public about evidence that Iraq had banned weapons in order to build support for war (39% think it did). And 49 percent of Americans think the Bush administration did not misinterpret or misanalyze intelligence reports they said indicated Iraq had banned weapons (41% think it did).
Fifty-seven percent of those polled say that U.S. efforts to establish security and rebuild Iraq have gone either somewhat well (41%) or very well (16%). Twenty-six percent say that efforts to rebuild have gone not too well, while 14 percent say efforts have gone not at all well. The majority of those polled (61%) would support keeping large numbers of U.S. military in Iraq for less than two years; 31 percent want most troops home within one year, while 30 percent would support keeping them there for one to two years. And only 21 percent of Americans are very confident that the United States will successfully establish a stable democratic form of government in Iraq over the long term.
The majority of Americans think that going to war with Iraq was the right thing to do despite the number of U.S. military personnel killed or injured (52%); reports about the long term costs of committing U.S. forces to rebuilding Iraq (51%); the fact that no banned chemical or biological weapons have been found so far (51%) and the Bush administration's admission that it was incorrect about Saddam Hussein's attempt to buy uranium in Africa (53%).
Meanwhile, President George W. Bush's approval rating has risen slightly to 57 percent from 55 percent in the last Newsweek Poll, but remains significantly lower than the previous recent high of 71 percent (April). And the majority of Americans still approve of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq (58%), while there is less support for his handling of the economy (48% disapprove; 43% approve). Fifty-two percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the federal budget deficit (34% approve) and 48 percent approve of his handling of taxes (45% disapprove).
Sixty percent of those polled say Bush impresses them as being trustworthy (36% say he is not) and 72 percent say he impresses them as being able to get things done (25% disagree). Fifty-nine percent say their impression is that Bush is well-informed, while 36 percent disagree.
With the release last week of a Congressional report on intelligence failures in the September 11 terror attacks, the overwhelming majority (72%) of Americans say they place "some" (53%) or "a lot" (19%) of blame on U.S. intelligence agencies like the C.I.A. and F.B.I. for the World Trade Center attacks. Twenty-three percent say U.S. intelligence agencies are not at all to blame for the attacks.
For this Newsweek Poll, Princeton Survey Research Associates interviewed by telephone 1,002 adults aged 18 and older on July 24-25, 2003. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points. This poll is part of the August 4 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, July 28). |
