Recent Surveys show Americans ungappy about Iraq

The Continuing Disillusionment


Most Americans (54%) believe that in the long run the U.S. mission in Iraq will be judged a failure. Just 29% say it will ultimately be viewed as a success.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 36% of voters believe the U.S. and its allies are winning while 36% hold the opposite view and believe the terrorists are winning. A month ago, 37% believed the U.S. allies were winning while 32% said the terrorists are winning.

These results mark the third time in four surveys that 36% have said the terrorists are winning. That matches the highest level of pessimism ever recorded in this survey series conducted at least once a month since January 2004.


From a Gallup Poll

Just 25% now believe the situation in Iraq will get better over the next six months. That’s down slightly from 27% in our previous survey. Forty-nine percent (49%) say that things are likely to get worse in Iraq.

More Americans today say they are dissatisfied with the United States' position in the world, believe that other nations have an unfavorable view of the country, and believe other world leaders do not respect George W. Bush than have said this in any previous Gallup Poll.


The Feb. 1-4, 2007 Gallup Poll finds just 37% of Americans saying they are satisfied with the position of the United States in the world today -- the lowest reading Gallup has recorded on this measure, which dates back to 1962.


Most Americans, 54%, now think the United States rates unfavorably in the eyes of the world, the third consecutive year a majority have held this view. From 2000 to 2004, most Americans believed the opposite -- that other nations regarded the United States favorably.

Moreover, only 21% of Americans believe that foreign leaders have respect for Bush, while 73% say they don't respect him. This is the worst reading on this measure since the question was first asked (about Bill Clinton) in 1994, and is down 12 percentage points from last year's 33%, which had been the previous low. The decline is even steeper when considering that 75% of Americans thought foreign leaders respected Bush several months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.


Americans' frustration with the war is evident in the fact that they are nearly three times as likely to disapprove as to approve of Bush's handling of the war, 72% to 26% -- the worst rating Bush has gotten on Iraq to date.

The poll finds 53% of Americans saying they have "a great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in the government to handle international problems, the worst it has been in the past decade, when Gallup began tracking it regularly. Gallup recorded a similar 52% reading last fall.


When asked about Bush specifically, only 31% of Americans say they approve of the way he is handling foreign affairs, the worst rating of his presidency.