- Nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) feel the war was the right decision, which represents little change from December, shortly after Hussein’s capture (67%).
- Nearly half of Americans (47%) say Bush pushes U.S. interests "about right," while 26% think he is too aggressive in pursuing those interests and 22% say he is not aggressive enough. Bush’s image is quite different from former President Clinton’s in this regard. In June 1995, 42% of the public felt Clinton did not press hard enough for American interests while 39% said he had advocated those interests appropriately.
- Only about four-in-ten Democrats (42%) feel the war was the right decision, down from 56% in December. By comparison, independents have become somewhat more supportive of the war  66% now, 60% then  while Republicans overwhelmingly believe the war was the right decision.
- While fewer than a quarter (22%) say the U.S. military effort there is going very well, another 51% believe things are going fairly well. Both ratings are up significantly since October, and the percentage of the public expressing a negative view of progress in Iraq has fallen from 36% to 24% in that period.
- Nearly half of Americans (48%) say their greater concern in Iraq is that the United States will wait too long to withdraw its forces from the country. But a sizable minority (41%) are more concerned that the U.S. will put out too quickly, before a stable democracy is established. Democrats by more than two-to-one (62%-30%) say the bigger concern is the U.S. will stay too long in Iraq; Republicans by a smaller margin (53%-34%) voice the opposite concern.
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