(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States regret their government’s decision to launch the coalition effort, according to a poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 59 per cent of respondents think going to war with Iraq was the wrong thing for the United States to do.

When asked what the next president should do about Iraq, 51 per cent of respondents want him to keep troops in Iraq until the situation is more stable and then begin to withdraw them without a fixed date for full withdrawal, while 43 per cent would want to immediately begin a withdrawal of American troops with a fixed date to have them all out within 18 months.

Arizona senator John McCain has become the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee in 2008, while Illinois senator Barack Obama clinched the Democratic Party’s nomination in June. The presidential election in the U.S. is scheduled for Nov. 4.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 4,122 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and 30,400 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.

In September 2007, 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. In addition, U.S. president George W. Bush said U.S. forces in Iraq would be reduced by 5,700 troops in December. After July 2008, all troop withdrawals from Iraq will be suspended.

The U.S. and Iraqi governments are hoping to finalize an agreement this year, which would establish a "security relationship" that would provide a legal basis for the presence of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

On Jul. 15, U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates called for a new approach in defence, saying, "America’s civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long—relative to what we traditionally spend on the military, and more importantly, relative to the responsibilities and challenges our nation has around the world. (...) Broadly speaking, when it comes to America’s engagement with the rest of the world, it is important that the military is—and is clearly seen to be—in a supporting role to civilian agencies."

Polling Data

Do you think going to war with Iraq was the right thing for the United States to do or the wrong thing?

Regardless of how you intend to vote, what would you prefer the next president do about the war in Iraq?

Source: Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,725 likely American voters, conducted from Jul. 8 to Jul. 13, 2008. Margin of error is 2.4 per cent.

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