US split in half over Iraq withdrawal

You wouldn't know it from the vote in the Senate, or to listen to the warhawks, but the number of Americans who want a timeline for withdrawal of US troops from Iraq is approaching a majority. The latest poll is within the margin of error. WashPost:

By Dan Balz and Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, June 26, 2006; 6:42 PM

With military commanders weighing possible troop reductions in Iraq, Americans are sharply divided along partisan lines over whether to set a deadline for withdrawing all U.S. forces there, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

About half (51 percent) oppose a deadline for getting out of Iraq, but the margin has dwindled as the bloody insurgency has continued to claim U.S. casualties. The poll found that 47 percent now favor some kind of deadline, up eight percentage points since December. Two thirds of Democrats favor setting a deadline, more than double the proportion of Republicans who embrace a timetable for withdrawal. Among independents, 44 percent support a deadline.