Poll: Majority thinks U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq

Activists sit in front of the U.S. Capitol during an anti-war rally January 27, 2006 in Washington, D.C. / Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Poll analysis by Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto and Fred Backus

Today marks 10 years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and most Americans now say the U.S. should have avoided that conflict. Many Americans do not think the U.S. was successful in achieving its objectives there.

Looking back, 54 percent of Americans think the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq, but 38 percent say taking military action against that country was the right thing to do.

• 10 years later: The Iraq war's lasting impact on U.S. politics
• Iraq war: Was it worth it?

Support for military engagement in Iraq was high after the initial invasion in the spring of 2003 (69 percent backed it), and it remained high through late that year when Saddam Hussein was captured. But in April 2004, in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and mounting U.S. casualties, support for U.S. involvement in Iraq dipped below 50 percent for the first time.

By early 2006, most Americans - 54 percent - said the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq; since then, a majority has continued to hold that view. The last U.S. troops left Iraq in December 2011.

Republicans and Democrats assess America's nearly nine-year involvement in Iraq differently: most Republicans (61 percent) say invading Iraq was the right thing to do, while Democrats (and independents) disagree.

Many Americans express skepticism about whether the mission in Iraq was successful. Four in ten think the U.S. succeeded in accomplishing its objectives, but more (50 percent) say it did not.

A majority - 56 percent - of Democrats don't think the U.S. successfully accomplished its goals in Iraq, and while most Republicans think invading Iraq was the right thing to do, they are divided (46-45 percent) on whether the U.S. ultimately succeeded there.

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This poll was conducted by telephone from March 1-3, 2013 among 861 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[vannuys]

Vietraq was a mistake.... Gee, ya think so?! That's what those of us on the left told all of you idiots when the whole thing started, but you chose to accuse of us of not being patriotic and told us to leave the country as you were filling up your sport utility vehicles.

From an anti-war demonstrator to all of ye: Kiss my ass! Learn for your mistakes and never question a liberal ever again because (and you'll just have to accept this fact!) WE'RE SMARTER THAN YOU!

[tttuffi]

It wasnt Bush, it was Dick Cheney and Hallaburton and other big
oil concerns, Bush was to stupid. What a waste of a good heart!

[retiredanmad]

What never ceases to amaze me is how a poll of less than 1000 people is even taken seriously in a country of almost 50 million folks?
You can certainly get the desired results by stopping polling when you achieve the end game you wanted before you started calling.
Spare us, please.

[AttilaThePlumber]

"We don't need no stinkin' polls".

All we have to do is look at the facts and history of the neocon's obsession with war with Iraq, which predates the 9/11 attacks by decades.

And now, folks, it's the GOP who want us to send troops to Syria. I'm certain there won't be one young man or woman from their families or the families of the owners of Exxon/Mobil or any of the major military contractors volunteering to serve.

We've seen this before. The definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different outcome.

[TimeToEvolve]

This tragic debacle in Iraq was clearly started by Wall Street for profit. The war criminals Bush Cheney lies us into this disaster and used their Wall Street resources to convince the stupid, under-educated American Sheeple.

I am disgusted that there are still people blinded and stupid enough to defend the cowardly criminal actions of the pathetic subhumans who did this. I am proud to say that I was never fooled and was out on the streets protesting this before it even started.

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

The Iraq war was another manufactured crisis by republicans which has cost 2 trillion and could grow to 6 trillion per Watson Institute Study. Beyond the money wasted Bush/Cheney sent thousands of our own brave troops to their deaths on lies. They also caused the deaths of thousands of allied troops. Bush/Cheney et al. should be held accountable for the deaths of those brave troops.

The world court at the Hague should be the venue. Absent accountability what is the point? Republicans still claim invading Iraq was the right thing to do. This is what you get when you elect republicans the party of war.

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

Only a butt licking idiot would call one a crybaby for wanting the Bush/Cheney criminals to be held accountable for treason, spitting on and shredding the constituion and the deaths of thousands of our brave troops.

[luadda22]

Really GOP, only a "butt licking idiot" would even believe in the first place that the Hague would be the right venue. But Hillzagain, is right you do whine with a lot of hyperbole.

[BuckeyeChuck]

The thing that strikes me the most is that the republican party is still the lying bunch of hypocrites that America has ever seen.

They ware their lapel pins, but plot against American's every day.

[ammo17]

at the time it was necessary,but we can`t be monday morning quartebacks.our mistake was trying to force a government on these people who seen how corrupt and dysfuntional our government is then and now.

[vannuys]

Exactly how was it necessary? There n e v e r w e r e weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein was hated by Al Queda. BTW, if you want to accuse the government of being corrupt and dysfunctional, look no further than the Republicans who profited from the war after we were told that Iraqi oil revenues were going to pay for it all.

One more thing: Saddam Hussein had n o t h i n g t o d o w i t h t h e e v e n t s o f 9/11/2001!

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

Once again republicans and their supporters want to evade being held responsible for their actions. While preaching and forcing accountability on everyone else. These same idiots are constantly shouting Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi. This is why they cannot be trusted to control the power of government.

[vernique3]

This poll did not consider the value of the war to the military/industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about. Without wars or threats of war the military/industrial corporations might have to find legitimate work.

[myopinionpal]

The real reason the GW Bush invaded Iraq was he was using the US military to settle a personal vendetta with Saddam Hussein for trying to kill his father while he was in Kuwait. All the lies about WMD's was to get permission from the UN and congress to go in and make the hit on Hussein.