(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Few adults in the United States believe the troop surge in Iraq yielded clear benefits, according to a poll by Opinion Dynamics released by Fox News. Only 17 per cent of respondents think the recent increase in U.S. troops led to major improvements in the situation in Iraq, while 45 per cent believe it did not make much of a difference.

In addition, 42 per cent of respondents think the United States should pull out all troops from Iraq gradually over the next year, 24 per cent would allow a withdrawal only after Iraqi troops are capable of taking over, and 22 per cent would remove all soldiers from Iraq immediately.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,781 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 27,800 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 Sept. 11 and Sept. 12, commander of the Multi-National Force - Iraq David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador in Iraq Ryan Crocker provided a comprehensive assessment of the situation in Iraq to the U.S. Congress. During his testimony, Petraeus recommended scaling U.S. troop levels in Iraq and said the so-called troop surge—implemented earlier this year—had worked in "bringing down the number of ethno-sectarian deaths substantially in Baghdad and across Iraq since the height of the sectarian violence last December."

On Sept. 13, U.S. president George W. Bush addressed the nation to discuss the Iraq war. The American president said U.S. forces would be reduced by 5,700 troops in December, adding, "The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq is ‘return on success’—the more successful we are, the more American troops can return home." Bush also said a decrease in the number of brigades—from 20 to 15—could take place in July 2008.

On Sept. 16, U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates discussed the future of the mission, saying, "The idea is that we would have a much more limited role in Iraq for some protracted period of time, a stabilizing force, a force that would be a fraction of the size of what we have there now."

Polling Data

Do you think the recent increase in U.S. troops has led to major improvements in the situation in Iraq, minor improvements, or has the troop surge not made much of a difference at all?

Based on Petraeus’s new report, do you think the United States should:

Source: Opinion Dynamics / Fox News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 900 registered American voters, conducted on Aug. 21 and Aug. 22, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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