September 28, 2006

Abstract: - Fewer adults in the United States believe their government's handling of the coalition effort has been adequate, according to a poll by Harris Interactive. Only 20 per cent of respondents are confident that U.S. policies in Iraq will be successful, down nine points in two years.

- Fewer adults in the United States believe their government's handling of the coalition effort has been adequate, according to a poll by Harris Interactive. Only 20 per cent of respondents are confident that U.S. policies in Iraq will be successful, down nine points in two years.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein's regime was launched in March 2003. At least 2,708 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 20,400 troops have been wounded in action.

In December 2005, Iraqi voters renewed their National Assembly. In May, Shiite United Iraqi Alliance member Nouri al-Maliki officially took over as prime minister.

On Sept. 25, Democratic New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton discussed the situation in Iraq, saying, "The Bush-Cheney administration has stretched our military to the brink, stretched the facts to fit their ideology and stretched the patience of the American people with rhetoric instead of results." 53 per cent of respondents think Iraq will have a civil war in the next six months.

Polling Data

How confident are you that U.S. policies in Iraq will be successful?

	Sept. 2006	Sept. 2005	Sept. 2004
Confident	20%	23%	29%
Not confident	61%	59%	54%
Not sure	19%	18%	18%

Given the recent events in Iraq, how likely do you think Iraq will have a civil war in the next six months?

	Sept. 2006	May 2006	Mar. 2006
Likely / Very likely	53%	48%	51%
Somewhat / Not at all likely	34%	40%	38%
Not sure	12%	13%	11%

Source: Harris Interactive
Methodology: Online interviews with 2,747 American adults, conducted from Sept. 7 to Sept. 13, 2006. Margin of error is 2 per cent.