Meanwhile I keep hearing that someone did an overnight poll on the 9/7 speech - but I can not find it on the wire - the results must be bad if the media is not being given those results or being told to not release them. The MidEast is all abuzz this morning with Zogby's 45% approval result from the poll ended 9/3, and the "Lowest poll approval as Pressident - 52%" from CNN-Time just released.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/7376982p-8320609c.htmlBush urges more sacrifice He seeks billions for Iraq, Afghanistan
By Lawrence M. O'Rourke -- Bee Washington Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Monday, September 8, 2003
WASHINGTON -- Appealing for sacrifice from the American people, President Bush said Sunday night he will ask Congress to spend $87 billion on Iraq and Afghanistan in the next year, saying success there is critical to winning a worldwide struggle against terrorism.
Speaking to a national television audience four days before the country observes the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Bush declared that it is better that the nation fight enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan "so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities." By fighting in those two countries, he said, "we are rolling back the terrorist threat to civilization, not on the fringes of its influence, but at the heart of its power." Some Democrats complained that the president was wrapping Iraq in the terror banner without much evidence. "I think the president deceived the American people," Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., said on CNN. Graham, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, said there was "no evidence Saddam Hussein was part of 9/11" and few indications that the deposed Iraqi leader had links to the al-Qaida terrorist network.<snip>
...The request follows approval by Congress in March of $79 billion for Iraq and related operations. U.S. military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan already are so costly that the Pentagon's monthly bill for them is almost the same as it spent to fight the Vietnam War, Defense Department figures show. The Pentagon is spending nearly $5 billion per month in Iraq and Afghanistan, a pace that would bring yearly costs to almost $60 billion. (Those costs do not include money being spent on rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure, such as restoring electricity and water supplies.) In Vietnam, the last sustained war the nation fought, the United States spent $111 billion during the eight years of the war, from 1964 to 1972. Adjusted for inflation, that's more than $494 billion, an average of $61.8 billion per year, or $5.15 billion per month.
<snip>
Bush's speech came at a time when his political popularity has been declining slowly. A new CNN-Time poll put the president's approval rating at 52 percent, his lowest since taking office.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6715644.htmPolls Up Ante for Bush to Succeed in Iraq Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush's strength with the public is based largely on the perception that he has helped make the country safer from terrorists, polls suggest.That is raising the stakes for Bush to improve the situation in Iraq - which he describes as central to the fight against terrorism.Almost three-fourths in a CBS News poll released Sunday said the president has helped make the country safer. Even a majority of Democrats agreed.
<snip>Almost two-thirds of the respondent said he has had almost no success creating jobs, and half said Bush has not helped the economy.
Seven in 10 surveyed in the CBS poll said domestic issues, rather than international issues, will decide their vote in the 2004 presidential election.The Bush administration is now seen as responsible for the current condition of the economy, which has shown signs of life though job losses have continued. Almost nine in 10 surveyed said the president has a lot or some responsibility in the condition of the economy.
<snip>
The CBS poll of 930 adults, including 775 registered voters, was taken Aug. 26-28 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
