"Republicans, men & independents" give Junior an 8 point bump to 30% approval on handling of Iraq

[Amerigo Vespucci]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Approval of President George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war has risen, according to a poll released on Wednesday on the eve of a speech by Bush in which he is expected to endorse a plan for a gradual troop withdrawal. Just 30 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of Iraq, but that was an 8-point jump from July, said the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

The boost came primarily from Republicans, men and independents, NBC reported.

Asked what was the most acceptable outcome to the war, 24 percent of those polled said U.S. troops should remain in Iraq until it became a stable democracy, while 26 percent wanted the troops to leave now and 37 percent wanted them to leave within the next year, NBC reported.

The poll of 1,002 adults was taken from Friday to Monday and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070913/pl_nm/iraq_bush_poll_dc;_ylt=AooC87eFvLyMNVthl.ePmWxZ.3QA