September 12, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in the United States remain disappointed with their federal government’s decision to launch the coalition effort in Iraq, according to a review of four recent public opinion polls. In a survey by CBS News, 59 per cent of respondents think removing Saddam Hussein from power was not worth the loss of American life and other costs of attacking Iraq.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in the United States remain disappointed with their federal government’s decision to launch the coalition effort in Iraq, according to a review of four recent public opinion polls. In a survey by CBS News, 59 per cent of respondents think removing Saddam Hussein from power was not worth the loss of American life and other costs of attacking Iraq.

In a study by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News, 62 per cent of respondents think that, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, the war with Iraq was not worth fighting.

In a poll by Gallup released by USA Today, 54 per cent of respondents believe the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq.

In a survey by Ipsos-Public Affairs released by the Associated Press, 57 per cent of respondents think the U.S. made a mistake in going to war in Iraq.

The number of Americans who think the war in Iraq was worth fighting has remained stable in TNS/Washington Post/ABC News studies since June, while a six-point drop was observed in the CBS News poll since February 2006.

The Gallup/USA Today survey shows an eight-point increase since July in the number of respondents who think the coalition effort was not a mistake. In the Ipsos-AP poll, the number of respondents who deem the war a mistake fell by four points since February.

All surveys were conducted before 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 on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11.

The coalition effort against Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,773 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 27,700 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. 10, Democratic Washington senator Patty Murray called for a change of strategy, saying, "Despite the stellar efforts of our troops, this conflict simply cannot be solved militarily. And having nearly 170,000 American troops stuck in the middle of a civil war in Iraq does not strengthen our ability to fight terrorists around the world. We must begin to redeploy our troops from Iraq and chart a new direction that allows us to rebuild our military and refocus on stopping the spread of terrorism around the world."

Polling Data

a) Do you think removing Saddam Hussein from power was worth the loss of American life and other costs of attacking Iraq, or not?

	Sept. 2007	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2005
Worth it	35%	41%	35%
Not worth it	59%	53%	56%
Don’t know	6%	6%	9%

Source: CBS News

Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,036 American adults, conducted from Sept. 4 to Sept. 8, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

b) All in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, do you think the war with Iraq was worth fighting, or not?

	Sept. 2007	Jul. 2007	Jun. 2007
Worth fighting	36%	36%	37%
Not worth fighting	62%	63%	61%
No opinion	2%	1%	2%

Source: TNS / Washington Post / ABC News

Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,002 American adults, conducted from Sept. 4 to Sept. 7, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

c) In view of the developments since we first sent our troops to Iraq, do you think the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq, or not?

	Sept. 2007	Aug. 2007	Jul. 2007
Yes	54%	57%	62%
No	44%	42%	36%
No opinion	2%	2%	2%

Source: Gallup / USA Today

Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,028 American adults, conducted on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

d) All in all, thinking about how things have gone in Iraq since the United States went to war there in March, 2003, do you think the United States...

	Sept. 2007	Apr. 2007	Feb. 2007
Made the right decision in going to war in Iraq	37%	39%	37%
Made a mistake in going to war in Iraq	57%	59%	61%
Not sure	6%	2%	2%

Source: Ipsos-Public Affairs / Associated Press

Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 American adults, conducted from Sept. 6 to Sept. 9, 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.