Winners And Losers

The American people finally realize no one is winning in Iraq.

One in five Americans believes the United States is winning the war in Iraq, according to a poll. The number has dropped by half since December.

About the same number -- 18 percent -- believe insurgents are winning. But the majority, 60 percent, say no one is winning in Iraq.

The poll of 1,013 adult Americans interviewed by telephone found two-thirds -- 64 percent -- of those polled oppose the war in Iraq.

A majority, 57 percent, want the United States to announce it will pull all troops by a certain date. The Bush administration argues against setting a timetable, saying it would embolden the enemy. But the onslaught of daily violence has apparently soured public support for the war.

Conducted over the past three days by Opinion Research Corp., the poll also found increased pessimism for the "war on terrorism." Sixty percent are dissatisfied with the way things are going for the United States in that effort, up from 53 percent in September.

The sampling error for all questions is plus or minus 3 percentage points. [emphasis mine]

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