Poll: 43% of Americans Support Petraeus Report

The reports are starting to come in with the opinion of the American public on the Iraq report delivered this week to Congress by General David Petraeus. One of his recommendations was to withdraw 30,000 troops from Iraq while leaving 130,000 troops there at least through the summer. Rasmussen Reports has just released the results of a survey of 1,000 Americans across the country. The poll shows that 43% of Americans agree with the General's recommendations, 38% are opposed and 19% are not sure.

The survey also shows that Americans may be resigned to the fact that U.S. Troops are very likely to remain in Iraq for a long time, with 71% saying that it is somewhat or very likely that a large number will still be there five years from today.

President Bush is going to address the nation tonight and he is expected to endorse the General's recommendations

Breaking the results down by party affiliation, Republican voters give the General's recommendations 66% support and 18% do not support them. On the Democratic side, the General gets support from 27% with 55% being opposed. Those who are not affiliated with either party are just about split down the middle.

There is not much of a difference of opinion between men and women on the issue. Men support the General bu 49% to 39% and women are split 50/50/. Those in the higher income brackets are more supportive than those in the lower income ranges.

Not all Americans are following the events constantly, but 65% did say they were following the news of the General's testimony at least somewhat closely this week.

The General gets a favorability rating of 37% and 19% have an unfavorable view. At the same time, 45% say they have no opinion of the General.

In a separate survey, 39% believe that the report is the Genreal's own assessment of the Iraq situation.

Rasmussen has been keeping track of the amount of confidence that the people have in the War on Terror and their latest results show that 39% of Americans think we are winning while 32% believe the terrorists are winning.