Powell and his politics represent the same, failed policies that are responsible for Saddam STILL BEING in Iraq to begin with.
and for those who claim "Well, the UN gave us no authority to actually remove Saddam, so we did right by leaving him.."
I say:
1) All bets were off when he started launching missles at the Jews, who were bystanders in the conflict.
2) He made a deal to end the war, then broke it. Thus, by any logical standard, the war should have resumed at THAT POINT. (Thanks again Bill..)
Powell's report could swing war support
By Richard Benedetto, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation of weapons evidence against Iraq to the United Nations on Wednesday is not only critical for gaining international support for going to war, but also crucial for winning greater American public backing, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.
Overall, 58% of those surveyed favor invading Iraq with United States ground troops to oust Saddam Hussein. That's up from 52% a week ago, before President Bush's State of the Union speech, which he used to try to bolster his case.
But half of the 58% in support, and half of the 38% in opposition, say they still could change their minds depending on further developments. A full 87% say they are looking to the Powell presentation to convince them.
Yet, most think war is inevitable. More than three of four — 78% — say they expect the United States to be at war against Iraq a month from now.
Powell is expected to display photographs of mobile biological weapons installations and refer to transcripts of intercepted conversations among Iraqi officials. At the White House on Monday, spokesman Ari Fleischer refused to give details of the evidence Powell will present.
The poll shows that Americans are less eager to go to war at this time than they were in January 1991, shortly before Bush's father sent U.S. troops to oust Iraqi soldiers from Kuwait.
Today, half favor giving weapons inspectors more time to complete their work before attacking. Twelve years ago, 36% favored giving economic sanctions against Iraq more time to work.
At this time, most are already certain Saddam is obstructing weapons inspectors. There is less certainty, however, over whether Saddam has weapons of mass destruction or ties to al-Qaeda.
But public support for war could jump to 76% or higher if Powell can present evidence that Iraq is obstructing U.N weapons inspectors, has chemical, nuclear or biological weapons or has links to Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization.
Even if Powell showed that Iraq has facilities to create weapons of mass destruction, but does not have weapons at this time, 60% said that would be enough to justify military action.
The poll further shows that Bush is sending a credible spokesman to make the U.S. case. Powell goes before the international body more highly trusted on Iraq policy than Bush, 88% to 67%, and brings with him an 86% favorable rating from the American people.
Bush's favorable rating is 68%. And 61% approve of the overall job he is doing, compared with 60% before his speech last week.
However, there is still an element of skepticism among the public. About half say it is likely the Bush administration would present some evidence it knows is not accurate. And 58% say the administration is likely to conceal evidence that does not support its case.
With a number of Democrats in Congress complaining that the administration is rushing to war and not keeping them properly informed, the poll finds 51% saying that criticism is unfair. Also, 51% say Democrats have been too slow to propose military action to deal with the threat of terrorism.
The Jan. 31-Feb. 2 poll of 1,003 adults has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points, and +/- 4 percentage points on some questions.
Support for the war is down? Nah, that went up too. We need something else. Something that says people are losing confidence in him. But they're not. His confidence ratings are up as well. Here's an idea: how about we compare him to... Colin Powell. Powell picks up 14% right off the top, they'll split the rest. I'll get right on it. |
Who do you trust more on Iraqi policy, the intelligent and diplomatic Colin Powell, or that steenkin' cowboy loserboy, George W Bush?
What do you want to bet that a good number of people answered "both"? Ever since they hired a new guy at Gallup to do their polling, Bush's numbers have been down. Other polls are showing a 3-5% jump and this poll shows only 1%. As my tagline says, I HATE THE MEDIA!
I wish I could say as much for others.
If the RAT hacks that ran this poll had any sense of credibility they'd ask those bigoted book-ends--Harry 'washed-up lounge act' Belafonte and Charles 'IB slappin whitey' Barron to comment on why they're so out of touch with the rest of America regarding Colin Powell.
Damn. His poll ratings went back up after the speech. Now what?