Reply #34: Gallup: No Change in Americans' Outlook for War on Terror

[Mark E. Smith]

Gallup News Service

PRINCETON, NJ -- The first USA Today/Gallup Poll following the killing of al Qaeda terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi suggests Americans are heeding President Bush's caution that the Iraqi insurgency will continue without Zarqawi leading it. Certainly the poll is not detecting the kind of public optimism about the broader war on terror recorded at the outset of the United States military operations in Iraq or Afghanistan, or following the capture of Saddam Hussein.

The poll, conducted June 9-11, 2006, finds little change compared with earlier this year in Americans' assessment of the United States' progress in the war on terror, or in the importance Americans attach to capturing al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Despite the evident success of U.S. intelligence and military forces in tracking and killing Zarqawi, Americans are not much more optimistic than they have been about the chances the United States will eventually find bin Laden. Also, Bush's approval rating for his handling of terrorism is only slightly higher today than it was in April.

Only Minority Believes U.S. is Winning

The percentage of Americans saying the United States and its allies are winning the war on terrorism has averaged about 37% for the past two years, and it continues at that level today. The latest poll finds 38% saying the United States is wining the war on terror and 16% saying the terrorists are winning, while the plurality, 41%, say neither side is winning. These results are similar to the previous reading from January 2006.

http://poll.gallup.com/content/?ci=23314