Polls & Research

U.S. Troops Out of Iraq in a Year, Say Americans

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States believe their country's participation in the coalition effort should come to an end soon, according to a poll by Opinion Dynamics released by Fox News. 40 per cent of respondents favour a gradual withdrawal of troops over the next year, and 12 per cent choose an immediate pullout.

Conversely, 34 per cent of respondents would only withdraw the soldiers after Iraqi troops are capable of taking over, and nine per cent would send more troops to Iraq.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein's regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,090 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 23,200 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.

On Jan. 10, U.S. president George W. Bush introduced his new course of action for the coalition effort, which includes an increase in U.S. troop levels. 77 per cent of respondents believe what happens in Iraq matters to their security in the United States.

On Feb. 2, U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates discussed the way the administration will measure the commitments of the Iraqi government, saying, "The benchmarks that we will see earliest on performance are: Are the brigades showing up? Are they showing up reasonably on time? Are they showing up in the numbers that they need to be showing up? Are the politicians staying out of decisions on which neighbourhoods to go into? Are the security forces allowed to go into all neighbourhoods where there are lawbreakers? There are several of these that are pretty straightforward benchmarks, it seems to me."

Polling Data

Thinking about the situation in Iraq, do you think the United States should:

Do you believe that what happens in Iraq matters to your security here in the United States?