War with Iraq

Americans Split on Deadline for Troop Withdrawal

Survey of 1,000 Adults

November 16-17, 2005

Set Firm Deadline for Bringing All U.S. Troops out of Iraq?
Yes	45%
No	41%
Not Sure	14%
RasmussenReports.com

Are People in Iraq Better Off Today Than When Hussein Was in Power?
Yes	54%
No	26%
Not Sure	20%
RasmussenReports.com

November 18, 2005--Forty-five percent (45%) of Americans say the President should set a firm deadline for removing all U.S. military forces from Iraq. A Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 41% disagree and oppose such a deadline.

The survey also found that 54% of Americans believe the people of Iraq are better off today than they were when Saddam Hussein was in power. Twenty-six percent (26%) disagree.

Forty-eight percent (48%) believe it is somewhat or very likely that there will be a smaller number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq a year from today. Forty-three percent (43%) say that a reduced troop presence is not very likely or not at all likely.

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A related survey found that 51% of Americans say the President is doing a poor job handling the situation in Iraq. That perception is keeping his Job Approval Ratings near the lowest levels ever recorded.

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Republicans oppose setting a firm deadline for troop withdrawal by a 60% to 31% margin. Democrats favor a deadline by a 61% to 26% margin.

Among those not affiliated with either major party, 45% favor a deadline and 35% are opposed.

A summary of recent Election 2006 polls on key races for Governor and the U.S. Senate can be found on the Rasmussen Reports home page.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

Rasmussen Reports was the nation's most accurate polling firm during the Presidential election and the only one to project both Bush and Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome.

During Election 2004, RasmussenReports.com was also the top-ranked public opinion research site on the web. We had twice as many visitors as our nearest competitor and nearly as many as all competitors combined.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

The telephone survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted by Rasmussen Reports November 16-17, 2005. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points at the midpoint with a 95% level of confidence (see Methodology).