Sixty percent of Americans oppose Iraq war: poll

By Reuters

08/09/06 -- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sixty percent of Americans oppose the U.S. war in Iraq and a majority would support a partial withdrawal of troops by year's end, a CNN poll said on Wednesday.

It was the CNN poll's highest number opposing the war since fighting began in March 2003, a figure that has risen steadily since then, according to the Opinion Research Corp. survey conducted last week on behalf of the cable network.

The poll showed 36 percent of respondents said they were in favor of the war -- half the peak 72 percent who supported the war as it began, said the poll of 1,047 Americans.

The telephone survey, which had an error margin of 3 percentage points, showed 61 percent believed at least some U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2006.

Voter anger over the Iraq war, plagued by insurgent and sectarian violence with a daily civilian death toll, was cited in the Connecticut Democratic primary defeat Tuesday of U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who strongly backed President George W. Bush's war effort.

© 2006 Reuters