15 percent of Minnesotans said they favored an immediate withdrawal from Iraq

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Minnesotans unsure of how the U.S. should resolve Iraq situation

Posted at: 10/08/2007 10:36:25 AM

Updated at: 10/08/2007 10:50:02 AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesotans by an almost 2-to-1 margin say in a new poll that things aren't going well for the U.S. effort to bring stability to Iraq, but there's much less agreement on whether a quick exit is the right step.

Given an array of options in a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll, only 15 percent of respondents said they favored an immediate withdrawal. That was matched by another 15 percent who would make no troop cutbacks until a stable government can be achieved in Iraq, a goal considered likely by only about one-third of respondents.

Another 28 percent said they'd like to see troop withdrawals begin in earnest this fall, with all troops out by next spring - a view that matches up with several Democratic initiatives in Congress.

The poll, conducted Sept. 18-23, surveyed 802 Minnesotans and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Much like in Congress itself, the poll found no simple majority in Minnesota for any single course of action. A plurality of 39 percent favored leaving a substantial number of troops in Iraq with a more limited mission of training Iraqi security forces and targeting Al-Qaida leaders, in keeping with last year's recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. That option also mirrors goals laid out last month by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.