(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – More people in the United States now think that the war in Iraq will eventually be seen in a positive light, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 43 per cent of respondents agree that the military campaign will ultimately be seen as a success, up five points since August.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – More people in the United States now think that the war in Iraq will eventually be seen in a positive light, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 43 per cent of respondents agree that the military campaign will ultimately be seen as a success, up five points since August.
Conversely, 35 per cent of respondents think the U.S. mission in Iraq will be deemed a failure in the future.
The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 4,242 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and 31,035 troops have been wounded in action.
In December 2005, Iraqi voters renewed their National Assembly. In May 2006, Shiite United Iraqi Alliance member Nouri al-Maliki officially took over as prime minister.
In September 2007, commander of the Multi-National Force – Iraq David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador in Iraq Ryan Crocker provided a comprehensive assessment of the situation in Iraq to the U.S. Congress.
In November 2008, Iraq’s National Assembly ratified the Status of Forces Agreement with the United States. The document establishes that coalition combat forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by Jun. 30, 2009, and will be completely out of Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011. The agreement can be revised if the Iraqi prime minister believes Iraq is not stable enough.
Earlier this month, U.S. president Barack Obama said he would revise the U.S. Defence Department policy of banning journalists from taking pictures of the coffins of soldiers killed in Iraq. Obama said that he will not make a decision about this until he has "evaluated that review and understand all the implications involved."
Polling Data
In the long run, will the U.S. mission in Iraq be seen as a success or a failure?
|
|
Feb. 2009 |
Aug. 2008 |
|
Success |
43% |
38% |
|
Failure |
35% |
41% |
|
Not sure |
23% |
21% |
Source: Rasmussen Reports
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 American adults, conducted on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
