{"id":19377,"date":"2011-11-23T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2011-11-23T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/views-of-the-iraq-war\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:45:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:45:03","slug":"views-of-the-iraq-war","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2011\/11\/23\/views-of-the-iraq-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Views of the Iraq War"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the war in Iraq began in March 2003, more than seven-in-ten Americans (73%) said using force was the right decision. The share of the public expressing this view dipped to less than 50% the first time in October 2004, when 46% said using force was the right decision; it reached its low \u2014 36% \u2014 in December 2007. The percentage has hovered at around 40% until a survey conducted Nov. 9-14 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that 48% of the public said that U.S. military action was the right decision; 46% said it was the wrong decision and 6% expressed no opinion.<\/p>\n\n

Since the start of the war, there has been a wide partisan gap on the question of using force in Iraq. In March 2003, with major combat operations ongoing, the gap was substantial: 93% of Republicans supported the decision to use force, compared with 66% of independents and 59% of Democrats. This gap persisted through the first year of the year. Across all surveys conducted in 2003, 90% of Republicans backed the decision to use force, compared with 66% of independents and 50% of Democrats.<\/p>\n\n

Over the ensuing years, support for the war has plummeted among independents and Democrats plummeted, while Republicans have remained largely supportive. In surveys conducted in 2008 \u2014 the last year of George W. Bush\u2019s presidency \u2014 just 17% of Democrats said it was the right decision to take military action in Iraq, compared with 73% of Republicans. Since President Obama took office, support for the decision to go to war in Iraq has increased among Democrats.<\/p>\n\n

However, Americans are ready to move on \u2014 56%believe that the U.S. has mostly accomplished its goals in Iraq, and three-quarters of the public support Obama\u2019s decision to withdraw all U.S. combat troops by the end of 2011. Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While a majority of Americans (56%) believe that the U.S. has mostly succeeded in achieving its goals in Iraq, the public is divided when asked if the use of military force was the correct decision; 48% say it was the right decision and 46% say it was the wrong decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"bylines":[791],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[],"class_list":["post-19377","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","bylines-pew-research-center-staff","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":288,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2011\/11\/23\/views-of-the-iraq-war\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Views of the Iraq War","description":"While a majority of Americans (56%) believe that the U.S. has mostly succeeded in achieving its goals in Iraq, the public is divided when asked if the use of military force was the correct decision; 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