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Iraq: Americans more optimistic
28/11/2007 10:46 - (SA)
Washington - Americans are growing increasingly optimistic about developments in Iraq, according to a new poll published on Tuesday amid signs of US military progress in the war and a monthly decline in troop deaths.
Some 48% of those polled by the Pew Research Centre thought that the US military effort in Iraq was going very well or fairly well, up from June when only a third of Americans thought things were going well.
But rising favourable sentiment about the war among the US public is failing to translate into a boost in support for keeping troops in Iraq.
By 54 to 41%, Americans in the poll favoured bringing troops home as soon as possible rather than keeping them in Iraq until the situation stabilises - a balance of opinion barely changed from earlier in the year.
The poll reflected the shifting political perceptions of the Iraq war, and the delicate task faced by 2008 presidential candidates and anti-war Democrats in Congress as they navigate public opinion on the four-year conflict.
An AFP count of US military losses for October indicated that 41 American soldiers were killed in the month, lower than the September figure of 71.
US and Iraqi commanders have said violence declined in recent months as President George W. Bush's "surge" strategy of 28 500 troops reached its peak.
Civilian deaths also appear to be declining in Iraq.
At least 554 Iraqis were killed there in October, according to data from government ministries, the lowest death toll since an attack on a shrine in February last year unleashed a wave of nationwide violence.
Democrats however charge that civilian deaths in the country are still appallingly high, and point out that more troops have been killed in Iraq already this year, than in any previous years of the war.
So far, the US military's overall losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion are 3 877, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
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