More Americans Want Immediate Iraq Withdrawal

Angus Reid
Oct. 10, 2006

- More adults in the United States believe the coalition effort should come to an end, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 37 per cent of respondents think the U.S. should enact an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, up six points since June.

In addition, 30 per cent of respondents believe the U.S. military should stay the course, while 26 per cent suggest a gradual withdrawal of soldiers.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 2,741 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 20,600 troops have been wounded in action.

In December 2005, Iraqi voters renewed their National Assembly. In May, Shiite United Iraqi Alliance member Nouri al-Maliki officially took over as prime minister.

On Sept. 30, the Washington Post reported that, according to a new book written by Bob Woodward, White House chief of staff Andrew Card attempted to persuade Bush to fire defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld after the 2004 presidential election, and replace him with former U.S. state secretary James Baker.

On Oct. 1, Rumsfeld said his relationship with national leaders has not been affected, adding, "They don’t seem to pay a lot of attention to it, mostly you do. That’s all you (reporters) do is read these books, you ought to get a life."

Polling Data

What do you think the United States should do next in regard to Iraq?

	Sept. 2006	Jun. 2006
Immediate Withdrawal Pull the troops out and come home	37%	31%
Stay the Course Stay the course / Doing a good job Be aggressive / Finish what we started Send more troops / Build up military presence	30%	30%
Gradual Withdrawal Train Iraqis to run own country Come up with an exit strategy Make a gradual withdrawal	26%	31%
Other Work with advisers / Act on advice Work with the United Nations (UN) Admit we made a mistake / Apologize and move forward Keep the public informed / Explain what is going on	4%	7%

Source: Gallup / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,010 American adults, conducted from Sept. 21 to Sept. 24, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.