September 9, 2007 /

Doubting Petraeus

This comes as no surprise. A new poll shows a majority of Americans believe Petraeus won’t be give a factual view of Iraq: Most Americans think this week’s report from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus will exaggerate progress in Iraq, and few expect it to result in a major shift in President Bush’s policy. But […]

This comes as no surprise. A new poll shows a majority of Americans believe Petraeus won’t be give a factual view of Iraq:

Most Americans think this week’s report from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus will exaggerate progress in Iraq, and few expect it to result in a major shift in President Bush’s policy. But despite skepticism about the Petraeus testimony and majority support for a U.S. troop reduction in Iraq, there has also been a slight increase in the number who see the situation there as improving.

The findings, from a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, underscore the depth of public antipathy toward the Iraq war, the doubts about the administration’s policies and the limited confidence in the Iraqi government to meet its commitments to restore civil order.

Fifty-eight percent, a new high, said they want to decrease the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. And most of those who advocated a troop reduction said they want the drawdown to begin either right away or by the end of the year. A majority, 55 percent, supported legislation that would set a deadline of next spring for the withdrawal of American combat forces. That figure is unchanged from July.

Petraeus is already trying to make the situation sound better than it is. The Iraqi’s have failed to meet a vast majority of the benchmarks set. It is also worth reminding everyone that these benchmarks weren’t set by politicians here at home. They were set by the Iraqi government and the White House. This means they are failing their own standards. We can’t be expected to continue support for such failures. The cost to the American people is too high for that. Instead the Democrats need to listen to the American people, not the Republicans, and start forcing an end to this disastrous experiment George Bush has conducted.

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