Political Jackass

A record number of Americans disapprove of the war in Iraq, and a clear majority now favors the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces, even if civil order has not been restored there — potentially a tipping point in public attitudes on the war.

While solutions remain vexing, for the first time ABC News/Washington Post polls show a narrow majority of Americans support setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Two-thirds oppose George W. Bush’s troop surge; most oppose it strongly.

It all makes for a continued hard slog for the president: Just 36 percent approve of his job performance overall, very near his career low of 33 percent last month. Bush hasn’t seen majority approval in more than two years — the longest run without majority support for any president since Harry Truman from 1950-53.

While rooted in Iraq, Bush’s problems with credibility and confidence reach beyond it. Sixty-three percent of Americans don’t trust the administration to convey intelligence reports on potential threats from other countries honestly and accurately. And 58 percent lack confidence, specifically, in its ability to handle current tensions with Iran. read more…

Democrats, now a majority in Congress, fired a symbolic shot across President George W. Bush’s bow yesterday, passing a toughly worded but non-binding resolution that opposes sending thousands more U.S. soldiers into Baghdad’s violent cauldron.

It was the first anti-war vote since Sept. 11, 2001, a rare rebuke of a sitting president’s foreign policy and one that could set the stage for a showdown over Iraq between Democrats in Congress and the beleaguered President.

“Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush, announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq,â€? the resolution said. Read More…

Sen. John Kerry on Saturday blamed Republicans for squelching Senate debate on the Iraq war and warned that President Bush’s plan for more troops in Iraq is a mistake.

“Another 21,000 troops sent into Iraq, with no visible end or strategy, ignores the best advice from our own generals and isn’t the best way to keep faith with the courage and commitment of our soldiers,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in his party’s weekly radio address.

Kerry branded Bush’s proposal for additional forces as “nothing more than the escalation of a misguided war.”

The Pentagon is in the midst of implementing Bush’s order to raise troop levels by 21,500, part of a plan to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad. read more here