(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in the United States hold gloomy views on the future of Iraq, according to a poll by CBS News. 61 per cent of respondents think Iraq will probably never become a stable democracy, up eight points since September.

In addition, 62 per cent of respondents believe things are going very badly or somewhat badly for the U.S. in its efforts to bring stability and order to Iraq.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 4,091 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 30,100 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 Jun. 4, Iraqi Shiite lawmaker Nadim al-Jaberi discussed the situation during a House of Representatives panel session in Washington, saying, "The Iraqi government right now still does not have full rein of its sovereignty because of the thousands of foreign troops now on its land. And perhaps the Iraqi government does not have yet sufficient tools to run its own internal affairs. Therefore, I ask the American government not to embarrass the Iraqi government (by) putting it in a difficult situation."

Polling Data

Which of these do you think is most likely?

How would you say things are going for the U.S. in its efforts to bring stability and order to Iraq? Would you say things are going very well, somewhat well, somewhat badly, or very badly?

Source: CBS News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,038 American adults, conducted from May 30 to Jun. 3, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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