US public doubts grow about Iraq casualties

A growing number of Americans feel the US troop casualty level in Iraq is unacceptable and believe the Bush administration intentionally exaggerated evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, according to an ABC-Washington Post poll.

The increasing concern about Washington’s Iraq policy appears to be pulling down the President’s job approval rating, which was at 59% in this poll, about the same level as in several other recent polls. That’s still relatively strong, but down from the high 60s to mid 70s where it had been for the last few months.

More than half in the poll, 52%, said there is an unacceptable level of casualties in Iraq – the first time this poll has found a majority who feel that way. Slightly more, 57%, said the war in Iraq was worth fighting, down from 70% at the end of April. Half of the respondents said they believed the administration intentionally exaggerated the evidence.

A majority, 58%, supports Mr Bush’s handling of Iraq, but people were evenly divided on his economic policies.

The dropping confidence in the Iraq mission comes at a time when the Bush administration has been on the defensive about the war.

Administration officials have been trying to explain how false information about Iraq’s weapons programme ended up in the State of the Union address. Mr Bush yesterday blamed the CIA for his erroneous claim that Iraq tried to acquire nuclear material from Africa. A claim backed by CIA director George Tenet.

Overall support for the US military’s presence in Iraq remains strong, with 74% supporting it and 48% supporting it strongly.

The poll of 1,006 adults was taken Wednesday and Thursday.