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Line 101: − ==Opinion polls== − Noteworthy due to widespread reporting in the media that President Bush's approval has been affected due to the Iraq War effort, in a May 15, 2007 Gallup Poll titled <b>"Congress Approval Down to 29%; Bush Approval Steady at 33%,"</b> <ref> http://www.galluppoll.com/content/Default.aspx?ci=27589 </ref> the poll found that ONLY twenty-nine percent (29%) of Americans approve of Congress, "down slightly from last month's reading of thirty three percent and this year's high point of thirty seven percent, while Bush's approval rating is holding steady at 33%." The poll further notes that <b>according to the May 10-13, 2007, Gallup Poll, 64% of Americans disapprove and only 29% approve of the way Congress is handling its job. Congressional approval is down 4 percentage points since last month, and is 3 points lower than the 32% average measured during the first five months of the year</b>. Even though Democrats now control both houses of Congress, the poll shows that <b>only 37% of Democrats approve of the job Congress is doing right now</b>. These marks are, however, significantly better than those given to Congress by independents (24%) and Republicans (25%). Democrats have been more likely than Republicans to approve of Congress this year, whereas Republicans expressed a higher level of approval prior to the change of power experienced after the midterm congressional elections in November 2006... − This 3-4 percentage drop in approval rating for the Congress is unlikely to be due to changes in Republican sentiment over the War, because Republicans have been supportive of the war effort all along, as evidenced by Senator McCain in a piece titled <i>McCain: Iraq War "Necessary And Just"</i> (April 07), where McCain insisted that Bush's troop increase showed "glimmers of progress." The piece cited the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll which showed that, <b>among Republicans, roughly three in four say the United States made the right decision in going to war and call the cause worthy.</b> − <ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/11/politics/main2670426.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_2670426</ref> And, on May 8, 2007, in "McCain: Progress in Iraq may turn opinions on war" it states, "<b>more than half of Americans who identify themselves as Republican say they support Bush's execution of the war.</b>" <ref> http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070508/NEWS09/705080330/1056 </ref> − − As Paul M. Weyrich noted, "It really comes down to this. Most Democrats think the country is so fed up with the war that is why they won last November. Thus, in advocating a bill to require timetables for withdrawal (which Sen. Hillary Clinton [D.-N.Y.] has said she opposes because it would signal the enemy just when we would be gone) they are doing what the public wants. Republicans are convinced (and have survey research data to prove their point) that the public does not want to go this far. Who is correct? If Democrats are then their poll numbers will soar after (such legislation) passes the House, if it does. If Republicans are they will witness an up tick in the polls. That is the curse of our times. Important public-policy questions are determined by the polls and not what is good for America." <ref> http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19796 </ref> Because the House of Congress has passed such legislation, the disapproval of the American public across the board was anticipated as being caused by the direction they have taken requiring withdrawl. − − Iraqi opposition to the American presence, both politically and militarily, has gradually increased since 2003. A secret British Ministry of Defence poll conducted in late 2005 found that 82 percent of Iraqis were "strongly opposed" to the presence of Coalition soldiers in Iraq.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/23/wirq23.xml Secret MoD poll: Iraqis support attacks on British troops], retrieved March 21, 2007</ref> The same poll found support for Iraqi rebels at 45%, rising to 65% in Maysan province, although a poll by the IRI in March 2006 found 78% of respondents answered that "violence is never acceptable"<ref>[http://www.iri.org/mena/iraq/pdfs/2006-04-27-Iraq%20poll%20March%20March.ppt Downloadable PowerPoint], retrieved March 21, 2007</ref>. − − Many discount these <i>secret</i> polls because they are biased in how the questions are asked ("Have you stopped beating your wife, yet?") and normally have been taken in the areas which have large numbers of insurgent sympathizers in the population, such as Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. The polling numbers are not included or references as to how this "secret" poll was conducted in the above reference. The lack of open disclosure and the fact that it was used to discount the intelligence to that point which was quoted in the same article as the secret poll as, "The secret poll appears to contradict claims made by Gen Sir Mike Jackson, the Chief of the General Staff, who only days ago congratulated British soldiers for "supporting the Iraqi people in building a new and better Iraq"".. leads critics to conclude that this is not a fair or accurate assessment of Iraqi opinion. Also, the article states, "The findings differ markedly from a survey carried out by the BBC in March 2004 in which the overwhelming consensus among the 2,500 Iraqis questioned was that life was good. More of those questioned supported the war than opposed it." It also contradicts the optimism shown by the Iraqis in the polls taken (March 2007) quoted in the portion above "Iraqi Liberation." − − Citing safety concerns and saying the following survey was done by "An Iraqi public opinion research firm with a <i>proven record</i> of conducting scientifically valid surveys" (How long have they been doing surveys - "proven record"? Did they do them for Saddam?) the following University of Maryland survey was also cloaked from public view or scrutiny. Again, detractors ask, "How was the question phrased which was answered by the Iraqi respondents?" (See the Conservapedia entry "Opinion Poll" <ref> http://www.conservapedia.com/Opinion_poll </ref> for further elaboration on the importance of the phrasing of questions, etc.) − − A poll commissioned by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes in the autumn of 2006 found that Iraqi support for anti-Coalition violence had risen to 61%.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-27-iraqi-opinion_x.htm Poll: Iraqis support attacks on U.S. troops], retrieved March 21, 2007</ref> Similarly, a [[U.S. State Department]] poll conducted in 2006 found that "two-thirds of Iraqis in Baghdad favor an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops". Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have fled to neighboring [[Jordan]] and [[Syria]] since the 2003 invasion.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1966333,00.html Warning over spiraling Iraq refugee crisis], retrieved March 21, 2007</ref> − − The rather obvious result which is used to buoy this negative report (cited from the US State Department) that two-thirds of Iraqis would like their homeland free of foreign assistance is too vague a question as it does not answer the question of WHEN. The repeated requests to the UN by the Iraqi government for the coalition troops to remain in Iraq to help stabilize the country and the support of the people for the Iraqi government (and its policies, including keeping the US/coalition there) argue against the meaning of this being that the Iraqi people wish the US to simply leave with their mission unfinished.
Removed poll results, per RobS instructions ("We don't give a rot about polls")
As reported in the State Department's annual Country Reports on Terrorism <ref>http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2006/</ref> released April 30, 2007, there are <b>steep declines in terrorist attacks and murders in many regions of the globe</b>. Though terrorism has increased markedly in Iraq, aside from the Middle East (which does not include Afghanistan according to State), the number of terrorist attacks worldwide is down from a year ago by over 300 incidents. In other words, the Bush administration's idea that making Iraq the "central front in the war on terror" seems to be working. According to the State report, <b>terrorism in South Asia is down by 10 percent from a year ago. In Europe, it's down 18 percent. In Central and South America, terrorism-related deaths are down 54 percent.</b> <ref>http://newsbusters.org/node/12431 </ref>
As reported in the State Department's annual Country Reports on Terrorism <ref>http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2006/</ref> released April 30, 2007, there are <b>steep declines in terrorist attacks and murders in many regions of the globe</b>. Though terrorism has increased markedly in Iraq, aside from the Middle East (which does not include Afghanistan according to State), the number of terrorist attacks worldwide is down from a year ago by over 300 incidents. In other words, the Bush administration's idea that making Iraq the "central front in the war on terror" seems to be working. According to the State report, <b>terrorism in South Asia is down by 10 percent from a year ago. In Europe, it's down 18 percent. In Central and South America, terrorism-related deaths are down 54 percent.</b> <ref>http://newsbusters.org/node/12431 </ref>
==Weapons of Mass Destruction==
==Weapons of Mass Destruction==