(06/10/10) -

Americans, Britons Continue to Oppose Iraq War

Less than a third of respondents in the two countries are confident that a withdrawal of all U.S. forces will be achieved by the end of 2011.

Less than a third of respondents in the two countries are confident that a withdrawal of all U.S. forces will be achieved by the end of 2011.

A large proportion of people in the United States and Britain continue to voice opposition to the conflict in Iraq and less than one third express confidence that the timetable for the end of the conflict will be met, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of representative national samples of 2,003 British adults and 1,007 American adults, three-in-five Britons (61%, -7) and more than half of Americans (55%, -3) say they currently oppose the war in Iraq.

Two-in-five Americans (44%, -4) believe the U.S. government made a mistake in launching military action against Iraq in 2003. This view is shared by 57 per cent of Britons (-5).

On both of these indicators, there is a fluctuation towards support for the war and the notion that it was the right decision.

The Future

A security agreement signed between the United States and Iraq calls for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2011. Only 28 per cent of Americans (-3)—and 30 per cent of Britons (+9)—are “very confident” or “moderately confident” that the timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops will be met.

In this survey, fewer Americans believe that the timetable established by the Obama Administration will be met, while significantly more Britons expect the withdrawal to happen by the end of 2011.

The public is almost evenly divided on whether the war will be seen as a defeat for the U.S. and its allies (19% in Britain, 17% in the U.S.) or as a victory (17% in Britain, 18% in the U.S.). The vast majority of respondents are undecided, or think the verdict of history will be ambiguous.

Tony Blair

As was the case back in February, a majority of respondents in Britain (56%) and the United States (70%) continue to side with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who claimed earlier this year that removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right thing to do, even if his regime did not possess weapons of mass destruction.

The results of the previous two-country survey on the Iraq War can be found here.

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Andy Morris, Research Director, London
+ 44-207-065-7272
andy.morris@angus-reid.com

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From May 25 to May 26, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,007 randomly selected American adults who are Springboard America panelists. From June 4 to June 7, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 2,003 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/-2.2% in Britain and +/-3.1% in the U.S. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain and the United States. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.