Poll: More Think The "Surge" Is Helping

35% Say Iraq War Strategy Is Making Things Better, 70% Doubt Iraqi Government

(CBS)  With President Bush's top military and diplomatic advisers on Iraq due to deliver a major progress report on the president's "surge" strategy, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds that an increasing number of Americans believe the troop buildup in Iraq is having a positive impact.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus are expected to warn Congress on Monday that making any significant changes to the current war strategy will jeopardize the limited security and political progress made so far.

Later in the week, Mr. Bush plans a national address.

The poll finds 35 percent say the surge has made things better, up from 29 percent last month and 19 percent in July. Only 12 percent say it has made things worse, but nearly half see no change in either direction, according to the poll.

NOW: IMPACT OF U.S. TROOP SURGE

Made things better
35%
Made things worse
12%
No impact
45%

AUGUST, 2007: IMPACT OF U.S. TROOP SURGE

Made things better
29%
Made things worse
15%
No impact
46%

Belief that the U.S. is winning the war in Iraq has grown a bit since January. Still, that perception is well below the levels of early 2006, and most Americans continue to see the war as a stalemate.

NOW: WHO IS WINNING IN IRAQ?

The U.S.
24%
The insurgents
12%
Neither side
60%

JANUARY, 2006: WHO IS WINNING IN IRAQ?

The U.S.
36%
The insurgents
9%
Neither side
48%

On the political front, Americans overwhelmingly criticize the Iraqi government, the poll finds. Just 22 percent say the Iraqi government is meeting a relatively low bar - doing all it can realistically be expected do to bring about stability in Iraq. 70 percent say it is not meeting that standard.

On the military front, Americans' views of the impact of the "surge" strategy are divided by political affiliation. Fifty-six percent of Republicans think surge is making things better in Iraq, while only 19 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of Independents do.

When it comes to evaluating the Iraqi government, there is no partisan divide. Less than one in four Republicans say the Iraqi government is doing what it can.

The poll finds a long-term pessimism remains about the Iraqi government: a 53 percent majority thinks Iraq will never become a stable democracy. Almost no one thinks it will occur within a year or two.

WILL IRAQ EVER BECOME A STABLE DEMOCRACY?

Yes, in year or two
4%
Yes, but will take longer
42%
No, never
53%

The poll finds that, in retrospect, a majority of Americans view the war in Iraq as a mistake.

DID U.S. MAKE A MISTAKE GETTING INVOLVED IN IRAQ?

Yes
62%
No
34%

Eighty-six percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Independents say the war was a mistake, while 31 percent of Republicans agree, according to the poll.

The 62 percent figure is reminiscent of the numbers recorded in Gallup Polls in the early 1970’s when respondents were asked whether the U.S. made a mistake getting involved in Vietnam. Sixty-one percent thought the Vietnam war was a mistake in May, 1971, and 60 percent thought American involvement in Vietnam was a mistake in January, 1973, according to Gallup polls.

[j-whitman]

This is like throwing 1 bucket of water on a 6 bedroom house fire

[andrew_693]

another lie........the surge is not working. In august there were 84 soldiers killed while in july: 79, if this is how they are measuring success. There is a website where they post the casualties with name and rank, unlike these media clowns.
http://icasualties.org/oif/
the suicide rate is the highest ever in the military also.
July was also the second deadliest month since the invasion, for the Iraqi people.
I don''t know how exactly are people saying that the surge is working. Unless they repeating like sheep everything they are being told and still believe the closet queers that run the country.

[omega39-2009]

The poll finds 35 percent say the surge has made things better, up from 29 percent last month and 19 percent in July. Only 12 percent say it has made things worse, but nearly half see no change in either direction, according to the poll...

Holy cow, it matches Bush''s approval rating now, another Republican mandate pushed by the "liberal" media.

[radiob-2009]

Let''s see let''s not count all of the shiite''s killed by shiite''s and let''s not count all of the sunni''s killed by sunni''s, if they are shot in the front of the face and those numbers will drop.


Over 500 Iraqis were murdered in one day in northern Iraq about two weeks ago, where is Iraq''s declaration of war against the perpetrators, their unity?



The surge of BS is working on the US public.

The headline for this article is biased. Maybe the numbers are up for the surge but approval of it is still dismally low when all the categories are added up. Americans know that Iraq has been a terrible mistake.

[socrates392]

The headline for this article is biased. Maybe the numbers are up for the surge but approval of it is still dismally low when all the categories are added up. Americans know that Iraq has been a terrible mistake.
Posted by sesanders1 at 01:13 PM : Sep 09, 2007

Yes, it should say: "A Majority of Americans Still Believe the "Surge" Has Had No Effect" or something like that.

[oakishpines]

'' ... given enough time, the good generals wil build for themselves an eternity of infinite numbers of eternitys where they never have to pay for anything at all as they no more are forced by the people to invest there dollars and votes in non charity and taxation and having so built that place where they no longer must pay for anything, they will afford themselves infinite divergence, meaning anyone may slay and slayve them at will without bringing any real harm or suffering or other detention to them, and having built that eternity, they will find that that eternity was already built for them long before they built it for themselves because they would have built it for themselves such that it had already been built for them long before they ever had to build it for themselves ... ''

[gkc99]

If the surge is "working", which it may or may not be, it shows up the intense stupidity and arrogance of the Bushits and the neocons in their original lack of planning.

Although the coopments made during the Republican debates can be summarized as "George Who?", McCain did go so far as refer to it as "Rumsfled''s strategy". Of course, Rumsfeld did exactly what he was directed to do by the Decider in Chief, Howdy Doody, who received his marching orders from Darth "Buffalo Bob" Cheney.

If a better result could have been achieved by a better plan, then it sure looks like all that blood is on the hands of George W. Bushit and his pathetic supporters.

[omega39-2009]

he poll finds that a majority of Americans view the war in Iraq as a mistake.
Eighty-six percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Independents say the war was a mistake, while 31 percent of Republicans agree, according to the poll.

Fortunately, after Nov 2008, these Republicans are going to be a dismal minority for a long long time.

[j-whitman]

Like our Homeland Security Dept. only meating 5 goals out of 25 after 6 years ---- Is certainly not a good standard of progress.

[cbs_oliver]

Anybody know where to find the questions and answers and hard numbers on this poll?

I can''t find it anywhere!

How many people were polled?

How were they selected?

How did the polled population match with the overall population?

What questions were asked?

What options were given for answers?

CBS is leaving out the actual data more and more.

Why?

[nmpher29]

Didn''t Bush just visit the Anbar Province and say that progress was being made there? And didn''t 4 U.S. soldiers get killed right after he left there? Doesn''t sound like progress to me. Just more of Bush''s hype.

[bareemperor]

CBS -

Without showing data, we assume this is Bu$h propaganda.

Too many lies!

http://www.strike911.org/

[bluebayou599]

The "surge" is succeeding in wearing our troops out by extended tours of duty and keeping them away from their families longer while very little political progress is being made by the Iraqi government.

[iceman_1960]

"What percentage of people who read, study and analyze, rather than regurgitate what the media feeds them, believe that pulling out of Iraq and dropping the country into further chaos would be a good thing?"
- Posted by dukakislives at 01:39 PM : Sep 09, 2007

We should stand down and give the Iraqis a chance to stand up. Isn''t that what Bush always said we were going to do ?

They''ve had 4+ years to get ready. If not now, when ?

Give them a reasonable time frame, then hand the situation over to them. They''ll never be motivated to stand up without a real deadline (I don''t give a flip if al Qaeda knows about it too). They need a real deadline to get moving.

Then after we leave, if chaos ensues, at least we left with a clean conscience.

The American people have made one thing clear: they don''t want an open-ended commitment in Iraq.

A huge Chinese army could not have satisfactorily resolved the American Civil War, nor will a huge American army resolve the Iraqi civil war.

Only Iraqis can do that.

[omega39-2009]

Anybody know where to find the questions and answers and hard numbers on this poll?

CBS is leaving out the actual data more and more.

Why?
Posted by CBS_Oliver


CBS_Oliver, I couldn''t find the actual PDF document but below is from the NY times story.

The telephone poll was conducted nationwide from Sept. 4-8 with 1,035 adults, of whom 308 were military families. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for all adults and 6 percentage points for military families. Complete poll results and story will be available this evening at www.nytimes.com.

[mcvet]

What percentage of people who read, study and analyze, rather than regurgitate what the media feeds them, believe that pulling out of Iraq and dropping the country into further chaos would be a good thing? Having lived in a country thrown into such disarray by Jimmy Carter''''s betrayal of the American people, I can give you a first hand account of the death and destruction a void can cause, way worse than what we see today. The thinking world still remembers how a weak America, led by an even weaker president, gave up on Afghanistan and Iran, and we see how we are paying for those mistakes today!
Posted by dukakislives at 01:39 PM : Sep 09, 2007
+ report abuse

Is there ANY depth you Fascist will not sink? What the blue blazes does Jimmy Carter and your fellings about him have to do with this? We have a Man, ONE MAN, who planned and ORDERED the ATTACK on this nation. Goal NUMBER ONE with EVERY American SHOULD be the pursuit and capture of HIM. Yet our leader has us bogged down in a War where some are HAPPY when they see any sign of progress... this was a nation that was SUPPOSED to welcome us with OPEN Arms... we were NOT suppose to be OCCUPIERS, remember? It''s time you losers started putting your Country ahead of your fuhrer''s face there Swastika Breath. Sieg Heil Bush!!

[missingamerica]

"The telephone poll was conducted nationwide from Sept. 4-8 with 1,035 adults, of whom 308 were military families." Thanks, Omega.

Interesting sample set.

If you''ve ever lived on a military base any question that is asked over the phone can often get an answer flavored with the knowledge that military personnel usually run the PBX or PABX (that''s the place where incoming phone lines branch out to the lines to the phones in the barracks or base housing).

[tmn]

Yea, the surge is making things a whole lot better in Iraq. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone is feeling much better now. Good job. BTW, what ever happened to capturing Bin Laden, the guy *responsible* for the 9/11 attack? Oh, we sort of forgot---too busy in Iraq.

Amazing how people can lose sight of the original goal when they buy what Bush is feeding...

[glossypan]

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." %u2013President Bush, standing under a "Mission Accomplished" banner on the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier, May 2, 2003
We won a long time ago. Save our tax dollars. Save the lives of our children. Come home now.

[lemonskink]

The propaganda machine continuation will effect these polls, tell them long enough, and repeatedly and they will believe. When training a dog to sit, the idea is to repeat over and over the command, soon they grasp the command.

http://www.ronnierayjenkins.com/

[condumism]

Posted by dukakislives

Having lived in a country thrown into such disarray by Jimmy Carter''''s betrayal of the American people, I can give you a first hand account of the death and destruction a void can cause.

The number one reason for al-Quedas existence was the Ronald Reagan prsidency. The number one reason for Americas total dependence on mideast oil was the Ronald Reagan presidency. Teh number one reason US health care is in such decline can be attributed to the Roanld Reagan presidency. I''d guess that you even voted for this GOPig Reagan, didn''t you?

[seven-pesos]

the south couldn''t wait to get their man, bush, into the white house...

so the south could get their hands on the treasury.

poor southerners don''t care about the debt.

the south has no money, they won''t have to pay.

the rich, educated, hardworking blue states will pay...

the south provides the wars and the debt.

oh well, that''s the south for you, folks!

[pwrslm]

Is there ANY depth you Fascist will not sink? What the blue blazes does Jimmy Carter and your fellings about him have to do with this? We have a Man, ONE MAN, who planned and ORDERED the ATTACK on this nation. Goal NUMBER ONE with EVERY American SHOULD be the pursuit and capture of HIM. Yet our leader has us bogged down in a War where some are HAPPY when they see any sign of progress... this was a nation that was SUPPOSED to welcome us with OPEN Arms... we were NOT suppose to be OCCUPIERS, remember? It''''s time you losers started putting your Country ahead of your fuhrer''''s face there Swastika Breath. Sieg Heil Bush!!
Posted by MCVet

The only title I can put on this rant is that of a paranoid delusion. Then again, the grasp on reality of a person whose mind clings to "sieg heil" cant be too coherent in the reality theatre.

[glossypan]

More Fantasy World:
"Oh, no, we''re not going to have any casualties." - President Bush, discussing the Iraq war with Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson, after Robertson told him he should prepare the American people for casualties. Source - the Rev. Pat himself in an interview with CNN on Oct 19 2004. Even if you believe Bush''s intentions are honorable, how can you possibly trust his judgment?

[truthspeake2]

Poll: Most people thought Adjustable Rate Mortgages were a good thing too!

[j-whitman]

The #1 reason Al Queda is in existence is against western presence in Arab teritories,
,, The #2 is our unchecked support of a country with a lousy human rights record of abuses from a Isreali Zionist government.

[seven-pesos]

bush wouldn''t make a yellow pimple on osama bin laden''s hairy azz.

osama is twice the man that snake, bush, is.

20 years from now american teenagers will be wearing ''osama'' tee shirts...

while bush will be remembered as an incompetent, faith professing, redneck piece of war making dixie trash.

ha,ha,ha.

don''t like it? come see me!

war, hate, phony christian creeps...

nothing good comes out of the south!

[seven-pesos]

the south loves to start wars.

the south just never learned how to win any wars.

ha,ha,ha.

jefferson davis, lyndon johnson, george bush, jr.

all southern, all christian, all losers.

slave state, war maker, phony christian losers.

ha,ha,ha.

that''s the south for you, folks!

[condumism]

In the summer of 2003, John Kerry made it clear that the US did not have enough troops on the ground in Iraq. Did the GOPigs listen? Of course not. The GOPig plan was to create chaos in Iraq as long as possible so that they could steal from the US taxpayer and the Iraqi people. HAd John Kerry been elected presidnet, this Iraq business would have been a distant memory by now. GOPigs have proven once again that they can not, and never have been able to govern. Why else would the GOPig Congress of 1994 - 2006 allow Corporate lobbyists such as Southern Neoclown Fred Thompson to right legislation? Because GOPigs have sold out America, this is why!

[seven-pesos]

in the south a nonbeliever cannot win public office.

even if he is the most qualified.

the church will not allow it.

in the south religion is not about christ...

in the south religion is about politics.

and the church controls the politics.

ha,ha,ha.

and the southern church loves bush, war, hate and phony religion.

ha,ha,ha,

that''s the south for you, folks!

[oakishpines]

'' ... having congress tax me so the princess won''t tax me is like a man being raped by his daughter while she says it''s to keep all the other girls from raping him ... such that when the other girls start acusing the girl of raping her father, they''ll only have proven the girl''s point ... that all the other girls tell all their fathers that all the other girls rape their fathers when daughters don''t rape their fathers ... ''

[ubrew12]

Al-Qaida''s main purpose is to kill the secular heads of Arab states and replace them with theocratic heads. Saddam Hussein, as the secular head of an Arab state, thus had a bounty on his head and responded by cruelly repressing any Al-Qaida-inspired agitation in Iraq. Essentially, in the War on Terror, Saddam was OUR MAN in Iraq.

I''m glad the surge is working. Just you neoclowns remember that we''re trying to fix something that YOU broke in the first place, to keep Iraq from falling to Al-Qaida-inspired religious extremism.

Neoclown morons!!

[donnie900]

When a plane crashes, very little debry is left behind. Even a large plane. Its just to large an impact, see. The thing scatters into little tiny pieces that are really hard to see.

[kissamaarse]

This is like the Princess and the Pea. No mater how many mattresses were piled on, the princess could still feel the pea. No matter how many Bush lies are piled on the original lie of why Bush invaded and occupied Iraq, thinking America can still feel the original lie.

[staff2--2008]

Yep, the surge is working...as we kill more and more people and as more and more people are killed via other sources there is less and less of a problem...join the army...travel to exotic places...meet exotic people...and kill them...

There is no question that the surge is working, somewhat, but does that mean that we have to keep the number of troops at that level? Does anyone else realize that once the U.S. start to draw down the number of troops the violence will certainly start up again?

[micma-2009]

If there is no political reconciliation, then it''s all for nothing. What little success we''ve had will be erased.

[oakishpines]

'' ... the two lies: you can''t live without us, ok you can live without us but not yet, and there''s nothing we can do for you ... ''

'' ... i seriously doubt there''s some 14 billion year old or 14 billion billion year old get well feed world girls with any capacity to teach men how to shift shapes and toggle between holograph & realtime and to travel the local universes and eternitys at the speed of thought ... and even if there was, why would she be so kind to a bunch of get sick tax world men ... ''

[donnie900]

Thats why them blackhawks kept going down. It was a flaw in the main propeller shaft, see. They use steel thats cracked or second rate.

[micma-2009]

If there is no political reconciliation, then it''''s all for nothing. What little success we''ve had will be erased.

[ubrew12]

micma said: "If there is no political reconciliation, then it''''s all for nothing. What little success we''''ve had will be erased." Why should there be political reconciliation? Various Sunni and Shiite strongmen would rather carve the nation up into their little duchy''s (sorta like what''s happened in Afghanistan).

[donnie900]

'''' ... i seriously doubt there''''s some 14 billion year old or 14 billion billion year old get well feed world girls with any capacity to teach men how to shift shapes and toggle between holograph & realtime and to travel the local universes and eternitys at the speed of thought ... and even if there was, why would she be so kind to a bunch of get sick tax world men ... ''''

Well, see Intel never expected there to be a dimensional shift. The power spikes in the processor spelled flawed wiring, and not a exceeding of electricity''s speed of light. And when she came here, she thought we called her. And that we needed her help. Its like that short story "Azazel" .. about a 6 inch tall demon who so felt sorry for mankind he kept trying to help him.. but everything he did turned out horribly wrong. She tries to help us even worse off than we are at knowing any possible solutions. And everything she does just turns upsidedown..

[donnie900]

"This is like the Princess and the Pea. No mater how many mattresses were piled on, the princess could still feel the pea. No matter how many Bush lies are piled on the original lie of why Bush invaded and occupied Iraq, thinking America can still feel the original lie."

I bought martha stewart''s matress cover.

[micma-2009]

ubrew12

You are right. And the longer the Iraqi government takes to bring about political roconciliation the lower the chances that this will ever happen.

[oakishpines]

'' ... a teenager was left home alone to get through middle school with her friends while her parents moved hundreds of miles away ... the girl got into enough infrequent trouble as a result to have more than a little attention brought to her door ... the discovery was made that because all the other girls weren''t allowed to live alone that they flocked to the girl as if she were some kind of trouble magnet ... and so the girl had endured far more strife than the area neighbors had been aware that their children were capable of causing and so they wound up opting to pay the girl a fortune for baby sitting their children those several months ... ''

[jerr11]

Yep, this means we should stay the course, send more young Americans to die in Bush''s war, keep all that glorious windfall cash flowing into Halliburton''s Dubai office, and look forward to that wedding extravangaza that our President is promising us.

Life is great or what in this US of A!

[ssmleads]

I was shocked at Couric''s pro Bush reporting from Iraq. Ofcourse people think the surge is "working"...that is what you are reporting...and thats is a distortion. We massed an additional 30,000 troops in to a small city area and now Bush is walking around claiming a "miracle" has ocurred. This is a political game and CBS has been hood winked. Your headline needed to be "no political solution on the horizon...Bush''s last chance is a failure".

[sharncedar]

Hurray! Bush wins again! What''s that, 15 wars in Iraq that he has now won? Outstanding ... ! A product of Yale, truly an outstanding, amazing leader.

Just when all the defeatists and dead-enders think we are losing in Iraq, Bush performs another miracle of leadership and WINS! Thanks to great media outlets like CBS, we get to hear about all of Bush''s victories, so many victories, what is that now 15 times we''ve won the war in Iraq? Outstanding leadership.

That''s Yale for you - top people come from top schools. You get what you pay for, hooray America, when is the ticker-tape parade down Wall Street, another victory for America! hooray! Boo-yah!

[usayesterday]

Whatever!.......



........Iraq will cease to exist once we leave....



...be it 10 days from now, 10 months from now, or 10 years from now.


History.... HISTORY dictates that Iraq''s borders were arbitrarily constructed by the British, (some grade school kid with a crayon and a map of the middle east). Thus, the only successful government that has ever held reign in Iraq in the 20th century, has been a dictator! I need not say who that was. But again, if people in this country would actually study history, an intelligent president would have never overthrown a government which has been proven to keep some semblance of order and stability in that region. (And an intelligent electorate would have supported that).