Only 29% of Americans Say U.S. Is Winning War on Terrorism

Lowest percentage recorded to date

(TM note: an exceptionally loaded question here, calling the Iraqi insurgents "terrorists" -- which still means al Qaeda to most.)

by Joseph Carroll
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll finds fewer than 3 in 10 Americans saying the United States is winning the war on terrorism, the lowest percentage holding this view since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But, Americans do not believe the terrorists are winning the war, either; rather, half the public indicate that neither side is winning. Most Americans consider the war in Afghanistan to be part of the war on terrorism, but more than half reject the notion that the war in Iraq is. The public's concerns about being a victim of terrorism have been quite steady over the past two years, and views that there terrorist attacks in the country are imminent are at their lowest point in two years.

Winning the War on Terrorism

The June 11-14, 2007, poll updated Gallup's trend question that asks Americans if the United States and its allies, the terrorists, or neither side is "currently winning the war against terrorism."

The results show that 29% of Americans say the United States is winning, while 20% say the terrorists are winning and 50% say neither side. Americans are the most pessimistic about the U.S. efforts in the global war on terror now than at any other point since Gallup first asked this question in October 2001, with the 29% saying the United States is winning a new low and the 20% who say the terrorists are winning nearing the previous high. This is also the first time that half of Americans see the war as a stalemate.

(Continued here.)