General David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, will be issuing a formal progress report on the situation in Iraq next week. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 45% of American voters expect a positive report while 24% expect the opposite. Thirty-one percent (31%) are not sure.

However, just 39% believe the report will honestly and accurately reflect the General’s true assessment of the situation in Iraq. Thirty-five percent (35%) say it will not while 26% are not sure.

As with all polling questions on the topic of Iraq, there is a sharp divide along partisan lines. Republicans, by a 62% to 14% margin, expect a positive report. Democrats are evenly divided with 34% anticipating a positive report and 31% with the opposite view. Forty-two percent (42%) of those not affiliated with either major party say the report will be positive and 25% of unaffiliateds say negative.

By a 58% to 22% margin, Republicans expect the report to honestly reflect the views of Petraeus. Just 25% of Democrats share that assessment while 43% say the report will not accurately reflect what Petraeus thinks. Unaffiliateds are evenly divided.

The Rasmussen Reports telephone survey also found that 27% of American voters believe the troop surge is working and 25% say it is too early to tell. Forty-three percent (43%) believe the troop surge has failed. Those figures are similar to results from a month ago. The current public assessment is a bit more upbeat than at the beginning of the summer.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans say either that the surge has worked or that it’s too early to tell. That view is shared by 53% of unaffiliateds and 33% of Democrats.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of Democrats say the surge has been a failure. That assessment is shared by 43% of unaffiliateds and 22% of Republicans.

Most American voters (52%) still want U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by early next year. Thirty-five percent (35%) oppose that policy.

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of voters followed stories of the President’s surprise visit to Iraq Very Closely. Another 37% followed that news story Somewhat Closely.

An earlier survey, found that a narrow majority wants to wait for the September report from General David Petraeus before making any major policy changes.

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