The Bush Administration is apparently failing to persuade Americans that conditions in Iraq are going to improve thanks to the presence of US and coalition troops there. A majority—51 percent—of Americans is saying they believe the US will definitely or probably fail in establishing a stable democratic government in Iraq, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. The poll also found that 59 percent say they are in favor of a bill calling for a US troop withdrawal by August 2008, and that 54 percent are hard over on establishing a timeline; they want no compromise with the Administration. The survey also shows that at least 49 percent of Republicans want to see a Presidential candidate with a different approach to Iraq.
A new Air Force plan for how many fighters it needs in the next decade marks a sharp upturn from what it thought it needed just seven years ago. But analysts worry that the aspirational plan now in Congress' hands doesn’t make a tight enough connection to national strategy.
