(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Two-thirds of adults in the United States believe it is time to either scale down their country’s participation in the coalition effort or leave Iraq altogether, according to a poll by CBS News. 68 per cent of respondents believe the U.S. should either decrease the number soldiers in Iraq, or remove all its troops.

In addition, 53 per cent of respondents think the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq in the first place, while 39 per cent think the U.S. did the right think in taking military action against Iraq—down four points since August.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,792 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. 17, U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates discussed American foreign policy in a historical context, saying, "From our earliest days, American leaders have struggled with ‘realistic’ versus ‘idealistic’ approaches to the international challenges facing us. To win and protect our own freedom, the United States has made common cause with countries that were far from free—from Louis XVI to one of history’s true monsters, Josef Stalin."

Polling Data

From what you have seen or heard about the situation in Iraq, what should the United States do now? Should the U.S. increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, keep the same number of U.S. troops in Iraq as there are now, decrease the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, or remove all its troops from Iraq?

Looking back, do you think the United States did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq, or should the U.S. have stayed out?

Source: CBS News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 706 American adults, conducted from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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