Iraq Troop Withdrawal 64% Want Troops Home From Iraq Tuesday, October 16, 2007
For the second straight week, a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 64% of Americans would like to see U.S. troops brought home from Iraq within a year. Prior to this week's results, support for bringing the troops home had increased in three consecutive weeks.
Twenty-eight percent (28%) who want the troops brought home immediately. That's unchanged from a week ago but up from 20% five weeks ago.
Seventy-one percent (71%) of women want troops out of Iraq within a year. Fifty-five percent (55%) of men share that view.
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, 31% now want troops to remain in Iraq until the mission is complete. That's down three points from a week ago and the lowest level measured since Rasmussen Reports began tracking this question in August.
All questions concerning Iraq reveal stark partisan differences.
Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Democrats want the troops to come home within a year. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Republicans believe the troops should remain until the mission is complete. That latter figure is down from 63% a week ago and 71% two weeks before that.
As for those not affiliated with either major party, 59% want the troops home within a year. Only 30% take the opposite view and say they should remain.
Support for bringing troops home has remained remarkably consistent over the past year. Last December, 64% supported the Iraq Study Group recommendation to remove "almost all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by early 2008.
Rasmussen Reports has been tracking this question weekly since late August. The survey was conducted in partnership with Fox Television Stations, Inc.
Another survey found that 39% of Americans now believe the U.S. and its allies are winning the War on Terror. Twenty-eight percent (28%) believe the terrorists are winning.
The country is also evenly divided on the question of whether the situation in Iraq is like Vietnam.
Twenty-eight percent (28%) of American voters say that the economy is the top issue for Election 2008. Eighteen percent (18%) say the War on Terror is most important while 13% believe the War in Iraq is tops. Democrats are trusted more than Republicans on nine of ten key issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports.