Analysis: Iraq Report May Shift Climate

[unhappycamper]

General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is seen with a member of the Amariyah Volunteers, former insurgents who have joined forces with the U.S. and Iraqi troops to fight al-Qaida, in west Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. The top American commander in Iraq says he will have made recommendations on troop cuts before he returns to Washington next month for a report to Congress and says the U.S. footprint in Iraq will have to be "a good bit smaller" by next summer. (AP Photo/Steven R. Hurst)

Analysis: Iraq Report May Shift Climate
By CHARLES BABINGTON Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
Published Monday | August 20, 2007


WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats are warily anticipating a September report on the Iraq war, realizing that opponents will use any upbeat assessment to portray them as defeatists just as glimmers of hope appear.

While many of their party colleagues find the notion fanciful, they acknowledge that top Republicans hope the report will show just enough progress in Iraq to persuade millions of Americans to be patient about troop withdrawals and less critical of how the war is being run.

Democratic candidates for president and Congress, the GOP argument goes, would then be stuck with their Iraq-is-lost stance, appearing irresolute and beholden to liberal activists just as things are looking better.

Many Democratic strategists consider it highly unlikely that a Bush administration report could convince voters the war is improving in a meaningful way. Polling data suggest most Americans are unlikely to change their views about the war based on a new report from the administration.

~snip~

A recent CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll found Americans almost evenly split when asked if the U.S. military is making progress in ending violence in Iraq. But by 53 percent to 43 percent, most said they do not trust the top U.S. commander there, Petraeus, to report what is truly happening when he briefs the president and Congress.

Moreover, 72 percent of all respondents said a positive report would not affect their view of the war, while 28 percent said it would make them likelier to support it. Most polls show six in 10 Americans still oppose Bush's handling of the war, think the war is going badly and favor cutting troop strength in Iraq.

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[Birthmark]

1. Yeah,

I'm sure there'll be a tectonic shift of public opinion. After all, the Administration has only lied to us 700 times. They won't lie again because it would be bad form to lie 701 times, right? The Republicans are truly deficient in cognitive abilities. Sheesh!