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Majority of Americans Say Iraq “Not Worth It”
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many adults in the United States question their government's decision to launch military action in Iraq, according to a poll by Hart/McInturff released by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. 51 per cent of respondents think removing Saddam Hussein from power was not worth the number of U.S. military casualties and the financial costs.
The coalition effort against Hussein's regime was launched in March 2003. At least 1,627 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 12,500 troops have been injured.
The war's cost is expected to top $200 billion U.S. at the end of the year. In January 2003, Mitch Daniels—then the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget—forecast a total cost of "between $50 and $60 billion U.S."
On May 18, U.S. president George W. Bush acknowledged some setbacks in the planning of the coalition effort, saying, "One of the lessons we learned from our experience in Iraq is that, while military personnel can be rapidly deployed anywhere in the world, the same is not true of U.S. government civilians."
Iraqi voters elected a transitional legislative branch in January. On May 3, the new government headed by prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was sworn in. Yesterday, Sayid Mohammed al-Allaf—an aide to leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani—was murdered in Sadr City.
Polling Data
When it comes to the war in Iraq, do you think that removing Saddam Hussein from power was or was not worth the number of U.S. military casualties and the financial cost of the war?
May 2005 | Apr. 2005 | Feb. 2005 | |
Worth it | 40% | 44% | 44% |
Not worth it | 51% | 48% | 49% |
Depends | 4% | 4% | 3% |
Not sure | 5% | 4% | 4% |
Source: Hart/McInturff / The Wall Street Journal / NBC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,005 American adults, conducted from May 12 to May 16, 2005. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.