CBS Poll: 76% Say War's Going Badly

Record Number In Survey Say Getting Involved In Iraq Was Mistake

(CBS)  As President Bush and Congress hammer out an Iraq war funding bill, a CBS News/New York Times poll shows the number of Americans who say the war is going badly has reached a new high, rising 10 percent this month to 76 percent.

Nearly half of all Americans (47 percent) say the war is going very badly, while just 20 percent say the recent U.S. troop increase is making a positive difference.

Even a majority of Republicans, 52 percent, now say the war is going at least somewhat badly – a 16-point increase from the middle of April. Nine in 10 Democrats and eight in 10 Independents agree.

HOW IS THE WAR GOING?

Now
Well
23%
Badly
76%

4/2007
Well
31%
Badly
66%

Although Congress has backed down from attaching a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal to the war funding bill, six in 10 Americans would like one. The public also favors setting benchmarks the Iraqi government must meet as a condition for future funding of the war – something that Congress will include in the pending legislation.

The poll also finds a record number of Americans say getting involved in Iraq in the first place was a mistake. Only 35 percent say the U.S. did the right thing by invading Iraq, while 61 percent say the U.S. should have stayed out.

DID U.S. DO THE RIGHT THING GOING TO WAR WITH IRAQ?

Now
Right thing
35%
Should have stayed out
61%

In addition, the poll finds Americans are more pessimistic than ever about the overall direction in which the United States is headed. Seventy-two percent, the highest number since the CBS/NYT poll started asking the question in 1983, say the country is on the wrong track, while 24 percent say it's headed in the right direction.

DIRECTION OF THE COUNTRY

Wrong track
72%
Right direction
24%

President Bush's job approval rating in the poll is now at 30 percent, two points above its January low. Sixty-three percent of Americans disapprove of the president's job performance.

Congress fares only a little better, with an approval rating of 36 percent, and disapproval of 52 percent.

BUSH’S JOB APPROVAL RATING


Approve
30%
Disapprove
63%

APPROVAL OF CONGRESS

Approve
36%
Disapprove
52%

For detailed information on how CBS News conducts public opinion surveys, click here.

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,125 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone May 18-23, 2007. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. An oversample of African Americans was also conducted for this poll, for a total of 192 interviews among this group. The results were then weighted in proportion to the racial composition of the adult population in the U.S. Census. The margin of error for African Americans is plus or minus 7 percentage points.

[montraville]

Many cynical people tend to discount the wisdom of the American people, however, I think they're pretty much right-on with this one!

[nyckate]

Wow - Bush has united the nation - against him!!!

[sjc_1]

Folks,

Here is what I think their "exit strategy" is. We get our puppet Iraq government to say that they want us to go and then we leave.

[dogband]

Where were you all when this thing was getting organized and cranked up?

At least try to learn a freaking lesson from this.

I wonder how the Swift Boat guys feel, probably good, as they accomplished what they intended, to bash a true war hero, so that they could win the election and make their republican pockets richer, the sole goal of the republican party. Scum of the *** earth.

[ltreid-2009]

Very interesting

[bizzzz-2009]

I am for the war on terror, but Bush has screwed up this war soo bad. Bush has jepordized our national security by not definitively fighting the war, and is allowing our military to be spread out thinly and bled slowly.
IS ANYBODY WATCHING CHINA?? I GET THE FEELING THEY COULD KICK OUR @SS RIGHT NOW IF THEY WANTED TO.

[secundus2]

Don't wars always go both well and badly?

Wouldn't a more informative poll have given five choices:

(a) very well
(b) somewhat well
(c) not well, not badly
(d) somwewhat badly
(e) very badly

You gave respondents two chances of three to say "badly," implying by your question that the preponderance of people should include the word "badly."

[bareemperor]

OK, so we all disagree with Mr. Bu$h. How does a nation so united, have so little attention from the media?
Is there an unspoken agreement between the White House and the giants of communication? Maybe there is such fear and hatred of the public at this time that the administration only feeds what news they see fit to publish to the nation.
What if this was the reality of the situation, and no one would report it for fear of their future employment?

[knyghtwolf]

Just about everything has been said that can be said. bush is mentally unfit for office, everyone knows this. The man is going to lead us, WE THE PEOPLE, who pay this man's salary to do what we think is best for ourselves. I guess we have forgotten that principle in our once great nation. bush, cheney, rice, rove, all of the great wrecking crew of our values, beliefs, things we once believed as being true and righteous in the nature of BEING an American. People in Crawford do not want him back there because they are afraid of after his supposed term of "service" is over, and it retires back to it's ranch, there will be problems with attacks on Crawford itself. Can't blame the folks there for feeling that way I guess. The great decider is nothing any more to anyone who is less than middle class in it's swiss cheese policies that are nothing more than the rants of a madman. Yeah, I remember my history very well, and our country is headed for a HUGE dynastic cycle that will cause our nation to fall to ruin. It's coming and coming soon. bush & cheney and the whole administration can take their places in history right beside Mussolini, Chairman Mao, Hitler, Stalin, and many other notable %u201Cleaders%u201D of nations of peoples that have come before us as we leave our mark in history in blood & suffering, any species can smell its own extinction coming, and ours reeks to the high heavens.

[knyghtwolf]

Just about everything has been said that can be said. bush is mentally unfit for office, everyone knows this. The man is going to lead us,WE THE PEOPLE, who pay this man's salary to do what we think is best for ourselves. I guess we have forgotten that principle in our once great nation. bush, cheney, rice, rove, all of the great wrecking crew of our values, beliefs, things we once believed as being true and righteous in the nature of BEING an American. People in Crawford do not want him back there because they are afraid of after his supposed term of "service" is over, and it retires back to it's ranch, there will be problems with attacks on Crawford itself. Can't blame the folks there for feeling that way I guess. The great decider is nothing any more to anyone who is less than middle class in it's swiss cheese policies that are nothing more than the rants of a madman. Yeah, I remember my history very well, and our country is headed for a HUGE dynastic cycle that will cause our nation to fall to ruin. It's coming and coming soon. bush & cheney and the whole administration can take their places in history right beside Mussolini, Chairman Mao, Hitler, Stalin, and many other notable %u201Cleaders%u201D of nations of peoples that have come before us as we leave our mark in history in blood & suffering, any species can smell its own extinction coming, and ours reeks to the high heavens.

[knyghtwolf]

Just about everything has been said that can be said. bush is mentally unfit for office, everyone knows this. The man is going to lead us,WE THE PEOPLE, who pay this man's salary to do what we think is best for ourselves. I guess we have forgotten that principle in our once great nation. bush, cheney, rice, rove, all of the great wrecking crew of our values, beliefs, things we once believed as being true and righteous in the nature of BEING an American. People in Crawford do not want him back there because they are afraid of after his supposed term of "service" is over, and it retires back to it's ranch, there will be problems with attacks on Crawford itself. Can't blame the folks there for feeling that way I guess. The great decider is nothing any more to anyone who is less than middle class in it's swiss cheese policies that are nothing more than the rants of a madman. Yeah, I remember my history very well, and our country is headed for a HUGE dynastic cycle that will cause our nation to fall to ruin. It's coming and coming soon. bush & cheney and the whole administration can take their places in history right beside Mussolini, Chairman Mao, Hitler, Stalin, and many other notable %u201Cleaders%u201D of nations of peoples that have come before us as we leave our mark in history in blood & suffering, any species can smell its own extinction coming, and ours reeks to the high heavens.

[knyghtwolf]

Just about everything has been said that can be said. bush is mentally unfit for office, everyone knows this. The man is going to lead us,WE THE PEOPLE, who pay this man's salary to do what we think is best for ourselves. I guess we have forgotten that principle in our once great nation. bush, cheney, rice, rove, all of the great wrecking crew of our values, beliefs, things we once believed as being true and righteous in the nature of BEING an American. People in Crawford do not want him back there because they are afraid of after his supposed term of "service" is over, and it retires back to it's ranch, there will be problems with attacks on Crawford itself. Can't blame the folks there for feeling that way I guess. The great decider is nothing any more to anyone who is less than middle class in it's swiss cheese policies that are nothing more than the rants of a madman. Yeah, I remember my history very well, and our country is headed for a HUGE dynastic cycle that will cause our nation to fall to ruin. It's coming and coming soon. bush & cheney and the whole administration can take their places in history right beside Mussolini, Chairman Mao, Hitler, Stalin, and many other notable %u201Cleaders%u201D of nations of peoples that have come before us as we leave our mark in history in blood & suffering, any species can smell its own extinction coming, and ours reeks to the high heavens.

[mcvet]

Failure and the Bush Administration are one and the same!

[mcvet]

Failure and the Bush Administration are one and the same!

[mcvet]

Failure and the Bush Administration are one and the same!

[skyk-2009]

The never ending changes in the REASON for this War is what gets me. It started out as an Issue of WMD's. Then it moved to Saddam's involvement with 9/11 and Bin Laden. After that fell flat on it's face it became "Giving" Iraq a Democratic Government and NOW it's FEAR!! Without a doubt a very bad time for the nation and a very dark time in our history.

[skyk-2009]

The never ending changes in the REASON for this War is what gets me. It started out as an Issue of WMD's. Then it moved to Saddam's involvement with 9/11 and Bin Laden. After that fell flat on it's face it became "Giving" Iraq a Democratic Government and NOW it's FEAR!! Without a doubt a very bad time for the nation and a very dark time in our history.

[macusweil]

All simply to protect the 83% share of their oil we've given away a Iraqi & US tax payer expense.

Why do you think there is not talk from Washington of an Arab lead peace keeping force that would allow the US to bring our troops home as recently suggested by President Musarif of Pakistan? or a European multinational force or the engaging UN or..

[macusweil]

All to protect the 83% share of their oil we've given away a Iraqi & US tax payer expense.

Why do you think there is not talk from Washington of an Arab lead peace keeping force that would allow the US to bring our troops home as recently suggested by President Musarif of Pakistan? or a European multinational force or the engaging UN or..

[neoconrcrazy]

if repub - democratic voters are evenly split 50-50 (which they're not), and 76% are against this adventure, it means there are alot of good American republicans who have seen the light.

let's hope all of us can find the right solution to the Bush War Folly.