New Poll Indicates Public Optimism on Iraq

In a time when the media and the public seem to be plagued with ever-more-distressing news about the flailing economy, ABC News/Washington Post is out with a new poll (click here for the pdf) showing fresh numbers on how Americans are feeling about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A now-infamous event during President Bush's recent trip to Iraq, in the words of ABC News, "took him to the root of his own unpopularity," when an Iraqi TV journalist hurled his shoes at Mr. Bush.

Certainly there could be no better symbol for America's poor image abroad, especially when majorities have consistently said in our Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index that they believe the rest of the world sees the U.S. negatively. And Americans have indicated that that, in fact, matters a great deal; 63 percent said it's "very important" to our national security that the rest of the world see us positively (24 percent said it's "somewhat important").

Meanwhile, the new ABC News/Washington Post findings reveal public attitudes have largely remained negative on the war in Iraq and President Bush, with numbers holding steady (at 64 percent) on the belief that the Iraq war was not worth fighting. Yet there is a considerable showing of optimism, with 56 percent saying the U.S. is making significant progress in restoring civil order in the region and 65 percent saying they are optimistic about the situation in Iraq in the next twelve months. It's worth noting that this kind of optimism could very well be linked to the finding that two-thirds (64 percent) believe President-elect Obama will be able to successfully end the U.S. involvement there.

But perhaps more drastic -- and remarkable in its contrast to attitudes about Iraq -- is the decline in public feeling about Afghanistan. Just 44 percent say the U.S. military action in Afghanistan has been successful, a major shift since 2002, when 70 percent considered our effort successful. Meanwhile, opinion regarding whether the war in Afghanistan was worth fighting has remained mixed, with 55 percent saying it was worth it.

The spring edition of our Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index similarly showed a slight uptick in attitudes on success in Iraq and increasingly negative feelings about the war in Afghanistan. And while the public has consistently shown a preference for diplomacy over military solutions, we saw a growing shift in public attitudes towards diplomacy in our fight against terrorism; seven in 10 in March 2008 said they favor more emphasis on diplomatic and economic methods, up eight percentage points from January 2006.

For more on Iraq, Afghanistan and foreign policy options facing our nation, see our Citizen's Survival Kit.