Bush, Rumsfeld Lose Popularity Over Iraq: Poll

A majority of the 1,004 adults, polled over the phone, believed the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, driving down the ratings of Bush and Rumsfeld, according to poll results released Monday, December 20, Reuters said.

Fifty-six percent of those questioned, a new high, said that the cost of the war outweighs the benefits and is not worth it. It marked a gain of seven percentage points from a poll conducted in July, Reuters reported.

“Fifty-seven percent said they disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, and 53 percent disapprove of the way Rumsfeld is handling his job, according to the survey.”

Calls for Firing Rumsfeld

More than half of the poll respondents, 52 percent, said Rumsfeld should be replaced.

Rumsfeld, in an op-ed piece published Tuesday, December 21, in USA Today, Rumsfeld took the time to defend his view of “the armor issue” of US military forces in Iraq, fuelled calls for his firing.

“In recent days, much has been made of a question I received from a National Guard soldier at a town hall meeting in Kuwait about armor on Army vehicles,” Rumsfeld said under a heading in his commentary entitled “The Armor Issue, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The soldier complained about the lack of armor plating for their vehicles. Rumsfeld’s answer – “you go to war with the army you have not the army you might want” — was considered callous by some lawmakers who called for his resignation.

“His question was a fair one, and I share his impatience,” the defense secretary said in his commentary.

“Our forces must have the equipment they need, and the department is working hard to ensure that they get it,” he wrote, adding that the production of armored vehicles had been increased “by more than 1,000 percent since mid-2003.”