Gallup Poll: Iraq War A "Mistake," Says 58 % Of US Public

Fifty-eight percent of the American public now believes the invasion of Iraq was a "mistake," according to a new Gallup poll.

Gallup found this to be a generally rising trend since 2003, when three quarters of the public supported the war. Opposition peaked out at 63 percent in the first half of 2008.

While the consensus is that going into Iraq was a mistake in the first place, 56 percent believe we have made progress, and say things are now "going well" for the United States and its goals in the region.

Today, only 40 percent of the populace thinks the war is going "totally badly," unlike early in 2007, when 71 percent thought so.

United States involvement in Afghanistan has been much more favorable among the public, and similar to Iraq, just over half think things are going well. Still, opposition to the Afghan war has also risen dramatically since 2002.

Comments

[duxguts]

This just proves that 42% of Americans are morons.

[wadenelson1]

I got in a heated argument with a 3-tour Iraq war veteran this morning. He told me how much I hated my country and how he had fought for MY freedom, and how I could "never understand."

I pointed out the war was over Iraqi oil, not MY freedom, or even the "freedom" of the Iraqi people. That 9/11 simply had nothing to do with Iraq.

That under Saddam Hussein, as evil as he was, the majority of the Iraqi people lived MOSTLY in peace. That Christians were safe to worship. That women could go to school. That they had electricity and running water. And that Hussein HATED Al-Quaida and the fundies.,

He simply dug in his heels even further, suggesting I leave this country

No argument could persuade him, including that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, and not ONE of them was Iraqi.

It turned into a shouting match with me telling him our Government had simply used him as a KoolAid drinking tool, and that SOMEDAY his eyes would be opened to that fact. I also suggested he was a gun-toting Republican who probably drove a F-250 or larger pickup truck.

by this point I wasn't listening to anything he said to me, so I can't quote him.

His kids will probably be the ones that support, and/or die in the NEXT war America starts.

They think they're patriots.

[zaz33]

Good for you Wade.

[MNTom]

Good job.

[stylenease]

Just 58%? Wow. I am never ceased to be amazed by just how many ignorant and uninformed people there are in this country. It should be 100%.

[MNTom]

They probably watch Fox News.

[Ergon]

Yet according to a Gallup poll in 2001, a majority worldwide was opposed to an attack http://www.urban75.com/Action/news144.html , with the exceptions of the US, Israel, and India.
World opinion is still against the stupid war.

[Ergon]

According to the poll, 56% of Americans think the war in Iraq is 'going well' , and 54%, in Afghanistan.
I don't know whether to cry, or throw something.

[Genep34]

Going out of the house with 2 different socks on is a mistake.

Spilling the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocents is a crime of the highest magnitude.

[BARRISTER]

Genep34

You have tapped the real issue: How many people think Invading Iraq is a Crime? should be the question polled.

[mamacat]

When someone makes a mistake as bad as invading Iraq, it isn't just a mistake, it's a disaster.

We all know the statistics: thousands of Americans dead, killed in combat. Maybe twice as many Americans dead, killed at their own hands, PTSD suicide victims. Hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, and resources diverted from attacking Al Qaeda. At least three trillion dollars, money that could have been spent here at home to fix Social Security, our health system, our education system, and the infrastructure, wasted on Blackwater, Halliburton, and who knows what else.

Calling the Iraq War a mistake is like calling the Black Death an inconvenience.

[Genep34]

Indeed

[NoSillyName]

That sounds like a LOW number.

[yankees]

Bush's biggest crime is not getting World backing and not having an exit strategy. The Clinton Administration thought there were WMDs as well.
My concern is that Saddam murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people. We protest, especially the Left, about the atrocities in China, Darfur, Gaza/West Bank and the like but close our eyes about what Saddam did? This was all about Bush, (I agree a Terrible President) not the murdered citizens of Iraq.

[jmpurser]

The left was complaining Saddam was a monster back when Reagan and company were selling him arms.

[kareemachan]

It is true he did terrible things - no one denies this. But that wasn't what Shrub's invasion was about. He went in on supposedly solid factual information about WMD's. He lied to us about this, and whipped the country into a frenzy to do so. If you'll look at all other tyrants, dictators, etc around the globe, we do NOT just march in to right wrongs; we try to work at top diplomatic levels and use the weight of international condemnation to try to change things. We have NO right to go in and tell a country to change its ways. Ever heard the phrase, "Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny"? I don't know about anyone else, but I never closed my eyes to Saddam's atrocities. I still say that it gave us no right to go into a country and change things by force, obliterate its infrastructure, make it necessary for millions of Iraqis to have to flee their own country, have thousands of others killed, and allow religious factions to fight each other with weapons that weren't sufficiently guarded after we "overthrew" Saddam.

[mamacat]

Bush's crime was in lying to the American people and to the world in order to justify a war that didn't need to be fought.

The Clinton Administration did not try to justify going to war with Iraq based on lies.

The Left complains when a President abuses his position to mislead the nation into an unjustifiable war. The Right complains when anyone points out their lies and hypocrisy.

[Sirdi]

A). Sadaam did not murder "hundreds of thousands" of his own people
B). It's not "your concern", Yankees.
C). Clinton's "Thoughts" are not a crime. He never invaded. You're just trying to give Bush cover.
D). Sadaam did most of what he did with US backing, encouragement, instigation, money, weapons, supplies.
He just outlived his usefulness, as they all do.

Get real.

[Genep34]

Bush's war killed as many or more innocents in Iraq as Saddam did.

[Gewyne]

One by roadside bomb, Muthana Bridge, northeast Baghdad 6 Jun 2009
Police guard by suicide car bomb in east Ramadi 6 Jun 2009
Man by roadside bomb in Al-Suwayra 6 Jun 2009
Three Awakening Council members by roadside bomb, Karmah, near Falluja 6 Jun 2009
Two by roadside bomb in Sadiya 5 Jun 2009
One by car bomb, Dawasa, central Mosul 4 Jun 2009
Nine by bomb in cafe, Shurta al Rabi'a southwest Baghdad 3 Jun 2009
Body of young girl found stabbed in Owaynat, northwest of Mosul 3 Jun 2009
Policeman shot dead in Zinjili, west Mosul 3 Jun 2009
Policeman shot dead in Tel Afar 2 Jun 2009
Mayor of Nour neighbourhood shot dead in east Mosul 2 Jun 2009
Three shot dead in west Mosul 1 Jun 2009
Four by bomb in Rashid vegetable market, Dora, Baghdad 1 Jun 2009
Policeman by suicide truck bomb, Kanasur, Jalowlaa 1 Jun 2009

[Gewyne]

Thirty-five by car bomb in market, Bathaa, west of Nasiriya 10 Jun 2009
Body of Awakening Council member found hanged in Diyala 10 Jun 2009
Body of man found shot dead in Karama, east Mosul 10 Jun 2009
Child by bomb on motorcycle in Falluja 9 Jun 2009
Two guards of Awakening Council leader by bomb in refrigerator, Al-Tarmiya 9 Jun 2009
Young girl by roadside bomb in east Mosul 8 Jun 2009
Woman shot dead in Iskandariya 8 Jun 2009
High school student shot dead in market, Bab al-Saray, Mosul 8 Jun 2009
Child by bomb in toy, Iskandariya 8 Jun 2009
7-9 by bomb on minibus, Abu Dsheer, Dora, Baghdad 8 Jun 2009
Two police by roadside bomb in Falluja 7 Jun 2009-8 Jun 2009
Two police in ambush in Mutashfa, west Mosul 7 Jun 2009-8 Jun 2009
Policeman shot dead in al-Faisaliya, east Mosul 7 Jun 2009
Two kidnapped hospital guards found in Shifaa, west Mosul 7 Jun 2009
Two police shot dead in central Mosul 6 Jun 2009-Jun 2009

[ccairnes]

10 days in June sounds like a Quentin Tarantino film. This is what W accomplished on his mission. The perfect example of war as a crime.

[Ergon]

Quentin Tomato's busy making WWII porn

[tompoe]

Why not count those of us who believe it was one huge war crime, and The entire Bush administration needs to be living out their days in the World Criminal Court?

[catrose]

The crime was that it took 9-11 to get us over there to help the Iraqis. We should have gone over years before Sadaam killed all those people. If we had of maybe 9-11 wouldn't of happened. Clinton made us weak just like Obama is doing now.

[MoreDimensions]

Actually, if we wouldn't have used the Afghans as pawns in a war against the Soviet Union and then bailed on the Afghani people, 9/11 wouldn't have happened. Osama Bin laden was born out of that mess.

[luckyone77]

Help Iraqis? Was that what the mission was? I'd never heard that one before.

[JackWhistle]

I'm sure the millions of Iraqis morning their dead family members agree with your sentiments.

[omobob]

100,000 Iraqi civilians can’t agree. Their dead. What is the cost of "freedom"? I don’t see any freedom in Iraq. A pseudo democracy in Iraq is NOT freedom.

[LemonMeringue]

Help the Iraqis? 1.4 million of them are dead.

[AliMB]

Interesting to see what number Hu.ffPost extracted for its tagline.

Hu.ffPost headline: Iraq War a "Mistake", says 58% of US Public
Gallup Poll headline: Americans upbeat on progress in Iraq, Afghanistan

Frankly, whether one believes the Iraq War was a 'mistake' is irrelevant; unless someone has a flying Delorean in their garage arguing over the efficacy of the invasion is a policy non-starter.

Thus, a more salient number is this: 56% say "Iraq is going well for the US".

Another interesting data point: The current 56% "going well" percentage is as high as Gallup has measured vis-à-vis Iraq since July 2003.

Gallup argues that this "uptick in the public's views is related to the fact that the U.S. has withdrawn troops from major cities there and plans to withdraw most of its c0mbat troops from the country by the end of 2011". However, given that this withdrawal plan was outlined in the Bush Administration's 2008 SOFA, I believe this is only part of the reason.

Equally as important are the low and stable casualty rates of US servicemen (which rarely make headlines). Here are the monthly h0stile dea.ths for 2009 (Jan-Jun): 8, 11, 4, 12, 12, and 10. In the previous polls which measured 'progress', the over-50 marks likewise coincided with low and stable rates.

As time passes by with consistently low casualty rates, and as the SOFA plan continues successful execution, a perception of progress is perpetuated (and rightly so).

[RamonBackwards]

^^ how to not see the bigger picture, by AliMB.

nicely done, friend.

[wm1066]

58%???
Remember folks, this is a Gallup poll, the son has taken over Gallup from the father and he is a BIG bush and Republican supporter. Since he took over his poll numbers have been off.

[rabid dog]

Perhaps the % is so low because many don't consider it a mistake. More of a charade or a conspiracy, which robbed our tax dollars and exploited our men and women in uniform.

A crime yes, but a mistake, no.

[catrose]

Our men and women in uniform were not exploited. They signed up for it. They knew what they were in for. If they didn't want to go to war then they shouldn't have joined in the first place. It voluntary not draft.

[kareemachan]

Even when the Army announced that active duty soldiers assigned to units that had been selected to participate in the second rotation of Operation Iraqi Freedom or the fifth rotation of Operation Enduring Freedom would not be allowed to voluntarily leave the Army or change duty stations? People didn't sign up for multiple redeployments with inadequate equipment, nor to not be allowed to leave when their original time was up. That's some kind of voluntary.