(CBS) A CBS News poll shows Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with the Iraq war, President Bush and the Congress, as well as the overall direction of the country.
More Americans than ever before, 77 percent, say the war is going badly, up from 66 percent just two months ago. Nearly half, 47 percent, say it's going very badly.
While the springtime surge in U.S. troops to Iraq is now complete, more Americans than ever are calling for U.S. forces to withdraw. Sixty-six percent say the number of U.S. troops in Iraq should be decreased, including 40 percent who want all U.S. troops removed. That's a 7-point increase since April.
Fewer than one in five thinks that the troop increase is helping to improve the situation in Iraq, while about half think the war is actually creating more terrorists.
The poll has bad news for President Bush, too. His job approval rating slipped to 27 percent, his lowest number ever in a CBS News poll — 3 points less than last month and 1 point below his previous low of 28 percent in January. His disapproval rating is also at an all-time high of 65 percent.
Seventy-seven percent of Americans are saying that the war is going badly--up 11 points from two months ago. Nearly half, 47 percent, say it's going very badly. It makes me wonder if, by September, that the number of Americans who will say that the war is going badly will increase to above 80 percent, and that the number of Americans who will say that the war is going very badly will increase to above 50 percent. September will be the month when the Bush administration and the Pentagon will present its preliminary results on the Bush troop surge. Now we know that the Bush White House will want to continue the troop surge, and the war, until after President Bush leaves office in January 2009. And the Pentagon will issue a report to Congress saying that the war should continue until 2009. What matters here is that if the poll numbers continue to show a growing American opposition to the war, Republican congressmen will find it difficult to continue supporting the Bush administration's pro-war policy at the expense of their own political careers. The question for the Republican congressmen will be whether to start supporting Democratic legislation resolving the war, with withdrawal timetables, or risk being targeted as pro-war proponents for the Bush administration during an election season where Iraq will become the central issue, and the American voters have overwhelmingly turned against the war. The Republicans have less than six months to make this decision.
I found one interesting little detail regarding this CBS News poll:
Vice President Dick Cheney received a similarly low rating, with 28 percent approval and 59 percent disapproval.
I will say that it is rather ironic that Vice President Cheney's job approval rating is one percentage point higher than President Bush's job approval rating.
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