http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0213/p02s02-uspo.htmlFactors behind a sharp drop in public support may include casualties in Iraq, questions about the prewar rationale for war, and dipping approval for Bush.
By Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
For the first time since the United States invaded Iraq a year ago, the nation is evenly divided over the war.
That drop in support for war (to a 49-49 percent split) is a significant change from just two months ago when 65 percent of those polled by The Gallup Organization thought the war was worthwhile and 33 percent did not.
There are several reasons for this watershed in public opinion: steadily rising US casualties (539 killed and 3,030 wounded at last count), the inability of US forces to prevent massive car-bomb attacks, an increasing portion of the public that does not feel particularly threatened despite color-coded terrorist alerts and the recent ricin episode on Capitol Hill, and growing concern about domestic issues. Recent polls, for example, show the economy to be just as much of a worry as the threat of terrorism - and in some cases, a bigger concern.
So far, the chief stated reasons for invading Iraq - unconventional weapons on hair-trigger alert, a clear connection with Al Qaeda, the notion of Americans being welcomed as liberators, and the idea of Iraq as a pathway to Middle East peace - have not materialized in any clear way.
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