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Survey of 1,000 Adults October 22-23, 2005
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October 25, 2005--Fifty-three percent (53%) of Americans now say that getting U.S. soldiers home as soon as possible is more important than making sure "Iraq becomes a peaceful nation enjoying freedom and democracy." This is the first time that a majority of Americans have held that view. The Rasmussen Reports survey also shows that just 38% insuring a peaceful and free Iraq is the top priority. A month ago, 47% said getting the troops home was more important while 43% focused on finishing the mission. The six percentage point increase in the number wanting to bring home the troops comes despite the fact that 54% of Americans believe that withdrawing U.S. troops will make things worse in Iraq. That figure is unchanged from last month. Thirty percent (30%) of Americans believe the recent vote on an Iraqi constitution will lead to increased violence. Only 17% believe it will reduce violence, while 35% say it will have no impact. [More Below]
Forty-four percent (44%) of Americans view the U.S. military as a liberating force in Iraq. Thirty-eight percent (38%) view them as an occupying force. Republicans, by a 68% to 17% margin, overwhelmingly view the U.S. troops as a liberating army. Democrats take the opposite view. By a 54% to 24% margin, Harry Reid's party views the U.S. troops as an occupying army. Unaffiliateds are evenly divided. Forty-five percent (45%) of Americans say that the War in Iraq is part of the War on Terror. Forty-one percent (41%) take the opposite view and say Iraq is a distraction from the War on Terror. A related survey found that 39% of Americans believe the U.S. and its allies are winning the War on Terror. Thirty-four percent (34%) believe the terrorists are winning. 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. To keep up with our latest releases, be sure to visit the Rasmussen Reports Home Page.
The telephone survey of 2,000 Adults was conducted by Rasmussen Reports October 22-23, 2005. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. 37% of survey respondents were Republican, 37% Democrat, and 26% unaffiliated (see Methodology) |
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