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Majority in Britain Says Iraq War Was Wrong
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - More Britons think their government and the United States should not have launched the coalition effort, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. 57 per cent of respondents think taking military action against Iraq was the wrong thing to do, up three points since September.
The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein's regime was launched in March 2003. Britain currently has 8,500 soldiers participating in the U.S.-led military effort in Iraq. There have been 2,543 coalition deaths since the conflict began, including 103 British citizens.
Last month, defence secretary John Reid announced the withdrawal of 800 British soldiers from Iraq, in what he deemed as the "end of the beginning." 55 per cent of respondents believe all troops should be taken out of Iraq either immediately or within the next 12 months, regardless of the conditions in the country.
On Apr. 2, British foreign secretary Jack Straw and U.S. state secretary Condoleezza Rice visited Iraq, and urged political leaders to expedite the formation of a government. Rice declared, "You cannot have a circumstance where there is a political vacuum in a country like this that faces so much threat of violence."
In December 2005, Iraqi voters renewed their National Assembly. There has been little progress in assembling a formal administration.
Polling Data
Do you think the United States and Britain were right or wrong to take military action against Iraq?
Mar. 2006 | Sept. 2005 | Apr. 2005 | |
Right | 33% | 35% | 35% |
Wrong | 57% | 54% | 53% |
Not sure | 11% | 11% | 11% |
Thinking about Britain's troops now in Iraq, do you think the Government should...
Mar. 2006 | Oct. 2005 | |
Withdraw all British troops from Iraq immediately | 24% | 21% |
Withdraw all British troops within the next 12 | 31% | 33% |
Keep British troops in Iraq until Iraq's own | 39% | 39% |
Don't know | 6% | 6% |
Source: YouGov / Daily Telegraph
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,873 British adults, conducted on Mar. 27 and Mar. 29, 2006. No margin of error was provided.