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Americans See Troops in Iraq When Bush Leaves
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States believe the coalition effort will still be active when the second term of their current head of state expires, according to a poll by Zogby Interactive released by UPI. 93.3 per cent of respondents think U.S. troops would still be in Iraq when U.S. president George W. Bush leaves office.
Bush—a Republican—earned a second four-year term in the November 2004 presidential election. He is scheduled to step down in January 2009.
The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein's regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,473 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 25,500 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 May 24, the House of Representatives voted 280-142 on the Iraq supplemental spending bill, which approves $100 billion U.S. for the military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Senate ratified the measure in an 80-14 vote.
On May 31, during a meeting with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, Bush discussed the coalition effort, saying, "Failure in Iraq would endanger the American citizens because failure in Iraq would embolden the enemies of a free Iraq. (...) We must not let al-Qaeda have a safe haven in Iraq. We must not retreat in the face of the unspeakable violence that they perpetuate on your citizens. We must help you prevail. And if all Iraqis showed the same courage you show, we will prevail."
Polling Data
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? - "U.S. troops would still be in Iraq when U.S. president George W. Bush leaves office."
Strongly agree | 63.5% |
Somewhat agree | 29.8% |
Somewhat disagree | 1.5% |
Strongly disagree | 1.3% |
Not sure | 3.9% |
Source: Zogby Interactive / UPI
Methodology: Online interviews with 5,141 American adults, conducted from May 16 to May 18, 2007. Margin of error is 1.3 per cent.