CNN

Win in Iraq? You have to be kidding. The ONLY thing for certain that Bush's illegal, immoral and unjustified invasion of a country that had N-O-T-H-I-N-G to do with the September 11th attacks has done is create 2-3 more generations of radicals who will continue to attack targets all over America. Al-Qadea DID NOT exist in Irag until AFTER the invasion. What has President Bush done for the millions who have fled the country, are without basic utilities (some for years now)or have been made orphans or disabled from the war that he authorized? How has this sad-excuse for a president been able to continue? THAT is question the pollsters should be asking.

Everyone loves a winner. Look at the polls back in 2002 qnd 2003. Bush was practically beloved by most of the nation because we were perceived to be winning in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fast forward to 2007 and things have really changed due to the protracted course of the conflict in Iraq.

As Greg in Phoenix noted, we did win the war and accomplish regime change (also a goal of Clinton and the Dems back in the late 90's, by the way) and provided freedom and a chance at Democracy for the Iraqi people.

What happened is we didn't win the peace. In our belief that we would be greeted as liberators, we seriously miscalculated what it would take to stabilize, reconstruct and reconfigure the country. We disbanded all of the bureaucracies of Iraq including the army, threw out all Baath party members, did not secure arms and weapons caches, did not secure the borders with Syria and Iran, etc, etc.

So to all of you who are asking about winning the war, we did. However, as Bush 41 and his administration wisely realized after the first Gulf war, removing Sadaam created a vacuum that could not easily be filled as there was no organized opposition or alternative once he was removed from power.

But, if things continue to improve through the surge and the Sunnis and Shias continue to recognize that the extremists are the real enemy, it's possible...just possible, that there might be an outcome that might look more like a "conventional" victory. I wouldn't wager on that happening, but it would be interesting to see.

It is amazing how the results of these polls keep changing slowly and steadily from against war to towards the war. It swings between total rejection of war , then " we can win , but wont " , then to "we will win" and then sanction another 300 billion to war and impose public restrictions. the truth is not coming out about how people dead in iraq or how much money spent. It is varying wildly from source to source. is it because Not many people are asking for truth or some how they getting manipulated.

I'm still waiting for Bush and company to define winning. It changes as the situation in Iraq changes. It is obvious that even knowing of the potential hazards Bush had no plans in place to deal with them, which has led us to this disaster called Iraq.
Instead of hoping for the best, but planning for the worst, Bush hoped for the best and planned for the best. A fools plan. Winning? Think about that for a moment, Sunni hate Shiite, Shiite hate Sunni, a religious hatred going back over 1000 years. Shiite looking for revenge on the Sunni because of the brutal oppression of the Shiite under Saddam. Now throw in the Kurds who were slaughtered by Saddam and the Sunni's. And into this violent mix George Bush put our country. Come spring 2008 even according to the pentagon we will have to begin drawing down the number of troops in Iraq then what? What ever gains made by our military will vanish.

Winning this war is currently not possible, not due to military incompetence but the fact that the military is being micromanaged by individuals who have 0 military experience.

World War II was won because we realized that you can't win a war without going after the centers of gravity. That involved bombing places like Berlin and other major cities where manufacturing was taking place in support of the war. During the Vietnam War we were so worried about civilian casulties that we didn't bomb factories because we would kill "innocent" civilians. Also the military ran the show in Germany and Japan after the war, not some bureacratic dope who happened to have a degree.

Just as the statement "we support the troops, but not the war" is completely naieve so is the idea of not destroying the supporters of a terrorist organization.

War is hell, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. Just like the British lost the Revolutionary war because they couldn't imagine fighting in such a uncivilized manner, we will lose this war because we are more worried about being "civilized" then winning.

Why are you blocking or boycotting Ron Paul. I am a life long Republican. I am also an Iraqi War veteran and disabled veteran. Is this america or a conspiracy state. He is the only candidate , The rest are all the same. I can't tell the difference between Dems and Republicans any more. I beg you please help Ron Paul save our great Republic. To me my friends and family he is our only and best hope. For our children for our future, we must have a tomorrow . The country cannot go on as is. I beg you in Gods name to support this great american. Restorer of the Republic and last defender of the Consitution.
Sincerely,
RFD

Win? What is there to win? We broke their government, now they have none (to speak of). We are holding a spiked grenade, and thrown away the pin. If we hold it, we bleed to death, if we let go, it explodes.

Good job, W.

Huh? Where was this poll taken?

The next few months are going to be interesting. The Democrats have dug quite a hole for themselves and it's in their best political interest for America to lose this war.

And that makes me a very sad panda.

Of course CNN doesn't want to ask why America will not win the war in Iraq.

Congressional traitors?
Anti-Freedom protesters?
Military Incompetence?

Mt. Holland, just who are these adults you polled. Give me a break, how in the world can Bush's approval rate be up suddenly and most Americans – all of a sudden believe we can win the war in Iraq??? I don't know who you folks think Americans are but we are not STUPID no way Bush can be liked by everyone all of a sudden.

And now the administration is turning to the UN for help in Iraq?? They defied the UN when they went into this war against the UN's better advice and now they need the UN!!!!
And why all of a sudden are news channels not reporting on the war??Has everything come to a standstill over there – no one is dying, being bombed????

Uhh we are the third party in a civil war...

It's impossible to win...

Honestly, I know we are fighting people against the government, but it's turning into Sunni vs. Shi'ite....

Although since we all but "clensed" the Native American population from their lands 125 years ago, this country is again showing the worst in ourselves, when we could be doing so much better....

Bring the troops home and put a few in Sudan with UN troops!

Nonsense.... the "war" is won already its the occupation that is not being won. Withdraw troops to safer easily defended areas and let the Iraqis have their chance to "stand up".

700 billion dollars gone... we could of reduced our foreign oil dependence by 50% with that much money yet we sit on our hands while billions continue to be wasted.

If the U.S citizen stopped using ARAB oil, how long would it be before the money being used to support the terrorist activities would dry up? Who would fund the terrorist then?

I know this is what I've been saying for awhile. American doesn't have the backbone to win wars anymore. We could win in Iraq; the problem is many people wouldn't like what it'd take to do that. So instead our politicians and generals are forced to adopt these half-hearted wartime policies that ensure, if not defeat, at least a stalemate.

We can and will win in Iraq but only when the Communist News Network Starts to report Facts and not Fiction.....The GOP will be back in 09 so keep up the good work........

I think we could win the war if we start insisting that Iraq step up and take the responsibility that belongs to them. We need to start letting our soldiers do the job we sent them there for and bring them back home. A deadline needs to be set for the Iraq government to start assuming the control of there government since we are not planning on keeping our soldiers there forever. However we still need to help with the rebuilding and continue to supply aid for the people of Iraq who did not ask the United States to come to Iraq.

Sharon Evans

IT'S NOT A WAR. Stop calling it a war. THE WAR WAS WON FOUR YEARS AGO. Our military is now an occupying force. An occupation can never be "WON".

So, CNN reports an upswing in approval of the war-hmmm. they talked to 1000 people, and the numbers went from 30 per cent approval (300 folks) all the way to 33 per cent (333 folks?) Wow, that's an increase in support all right! And for the record-I do not, will not, can not support this war, nor do I think it is winnable.

America winning the war in Iraq?.Geez that has to be one of the most rediculous questions I've seen asked in a while. What are we winning? The right to go home? Like we're going to solve a thousand year old dispute in a country with way more baggage than anyone here could imagine.

I don't mean to be critical of your reporting, but if 33 percent of Americans now favor the war, compared with 30 percent in June, and both polls have a margin of error of +/- 3 percent, then isn't the rating STILL at an all-time low? Both measurements fall within each others' margins of error, indicating there has been no change. To report that the Bush administration "may have convinced more people that the war in Iraq is worthwhile" is to misrepresent the statistics: there is no statistical evidence to support the notion that Bush has been able to sway any of your interviewees to support the war. Don't believe me? Ask a statistician – before you misrepresent the facts.

I really donot understand what a WIN in Iraq means.

What good is a win when the thousands and millions of people have been displaced, so many children gone without attending schools, so many young man and woman have lost their limbs or their loved ones..and so many soldiers and Iraqies have died.
Win with so much human loss is never a victory. It is a defeat for the humanity itself.

Let's think rationally about this. What is America winning in Iraq?

Counterinsurgency does not win wars. I don't believe that America can win the Iraq War. Our intelligence lacked massively entering into the war; we did not understand the culture, nor did we ever fathom that it would be prolonged. Kaiser Wilhelm made the same mistake in WWI, Hitler made the same mistake in WWII, and we made the same mistake in Vietnam. To create peace in Iraq would entail us staying for the long haul. Until then, we are stuck in a quagmire. Either way, there is no winning.

I wonder how many of that 33% still think Iraq was responsible for 9/11. Or think there was an operational connection between Saddam and Osama. I think if everyone knew the facts (as presented by the President, and the Congress), the percentage would be a lot smaller.

President Bush has been very careful in his speeches to refute any connection but somehow the myths persist. Even Mitt Romney fell prey to it during the Iowa debate.

So the question unasked is, if America can win the war but probably will not, why will America not win?

How can we Win in Iraq when there is nothing to actually win? Didn't we accomplish our original goals, no WMD no Saddam, free democratic elections. Now we expanded our goals beyond what any foreign government can accomplish. What do these 40% expect to win?

It is sad that so many good Americans share Bush's total lack of comprehension of history. As I tell my students," If one cannot or will not look upstream into the River of History, they lack the ability or willingness to look downstream to see the rocks and rapids ahead." America is based on an educated citizenry. An excellent text to illuminate this principle is Barbara Tuchman's "The Pursuit of Folly." The patterns are there. Look. Study. That is what the Founding Fathers expected of us.

Boy, I can see why there are no comments on these articles: they say nothing! What were the questions? What were the choices for the answers? Somebody needs to train these writers on how to write clear, newsworthy pieces.

I have a really hard time believing this poll's accuracy. What has changed that's caused public opinion to shift dramatically? Nothing, that's what, except that more American troops are dead.

You guys didn't use the right kind of polling, and you fell into the same trap that half of the pollsters who shout predictions from the rooftops make.

People do not like war or wars that get involed in other nations politics.
I hope for conservatives sake in april Iraq will be totally stabilized and troops ready to come home. I think it just may be possible if the iraqi government does its job. We have war the war in Iraq when Sadam fell. We have not succeded in stabilizing the country, liberals need to regonize that
and stop saying weve lost. Lastly there were WMD's there us and Israel thought it alot of Iraqi weapons have been found scattered around the world
just not the major WMD's have not been confirmed found if we blew up Iran and Pakistan the sent in our troops Im sure wed find them but Americas to sissy to be truly cappable of that
people just have not learned appeasement does not work Hitler would be in hog heaven in todays society.
But that's just my opinion, believe what you want its your right.

What do you mean by "winning" the war in Iraq? Is that when we kill all Iraq citizens and occupy the country? What about all the other Middle East countries that hate us? Just some questions to think about..

Setting aside the fact that our President declared an end to major combat operations in his “mission accomplished” speech on May 1, 2003... I’m not sure I understand the question.

Just whose side are we on?

Don’t get me wrong, I know bin Laden is our enemy, but he’s in Pakistan or Afghanistan somewhere.

I know the 9/11 terrorists were our enemies, but they were mostly from Saudi Arabia.

As near as I can tell, Al-Qaeda weren’t a factor in Iraq before we got there, and they won’t be after we leave.

Meanwhile we’ve got 158,000 troops on the ground in Iraq and according to your poll most Americans think we can “win”.

And I don’t have the slightest idea what that means.

What does winning look like in Iraq?

Resolution of the Shia/Sunni schism?

Peace in the streets and basic services for the populace?

An increase in oil exports?

Unconditional surrender of the insurgency?

What exactly constitutes victory in someone else’s civil war?

I’m not trying to be ironic or sarcastic or glib in any way. I truly don’t understand.

And what scares me most is that I don’t think the people in the White House, the Pentagon or the 56% of your poll understand, either.

The problem with this poll is that the question is essentially void. It is not that this war is "winnable" or not, but whether it has an ending or not. This war will be lost by both sides, and already has.

We WON the war in about 15 minutes.

It is Iraq who has FAILED to establish a solid democracy.

We have certainly done EVERYTHING we could to help them and it finally seems to be paying off but in the end it is THEIR job to come together and form a solid democracy.

The only reason many Americans think we aren't winning the war is because media outlets like CNN have been pounding it into their heads for the past 3 years that we are not winning the war.

The Democrats campaigning for Congress and the White House have added to this general "consensus" so it's no suprise that we see poll #'s like this.

It always pains me to see data being skewed in the hands of the numerically incompetant.

"54 percent of Americans do think that the country has the ability to win the war in Iraq..."

"...margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent."

THAT MEANS that the figure could just as possibly be 49.5 percent as 58.5 percent.

So, if it is in fact possible that less than 50 percent of Americans think the war can be won, how can CNN POSSIBLY be justified in saying, without qualification, that "most Americans think that the war is winnable"????

I don't think this is splitting hairs to quibble over a half a percentage point. The fact is the data can break to either side of 50 percent, and any news outlet needs to demonstrate responsibility in interpreting such data.

CNN, either just give us the raw statistics and let us interpret them ourselves, or if you can't actually be faithful to the data, don't even bother.

Can someone define winning? Who is the enemy we are trying to defeat? If by win you mean inflict more casualties then we receive, sure we can win. If you mean suppress and disarm the sectarian militias, it's doable, though at a much greater cost than anyone is willing to shoulder. If you mean to stop fundamentalism, sectarian strife or terrorism, then no. There is no way for the US to win that war. A foreign army can't change the way people think. It can only stop them from acting while it is still present.

Sure it can be done...but it would cost so much money, resources and added blood it amounts to nothing more than a Pyhrric victory.

Meanwhile Bin Laden is alive and well and the real enemy is regrouping.