Posted By:
Catherine Moy
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Hard is not hopeless.” - Gen. David Petraeus, 2007

A majority of Americans believe the Iraq war is going well or very well. This is a 14 percent increase since June, and the highest rating on this question in more than four years.

I just want to thank each American patriot for standing with our troops when some folks, uh-hum, bashed our country’s brave warriors.

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has a new survey out. It was conducted in association with the Council on Foreign Relations. Though the headline on the poll is Declining Public Support for Global Engagement, it contains sections on energy and Iraq that provide some interesting information that isn’t breaking through in the current news environment.

Section 2, Views of Iraq and Afghanistan contains poll data that, a few months ago, would have been given considerable coverage. For example: 


58 percent of respondents now say the war in Iraq is going well or very well. This is a 14 percent increase since June, and the highest rating on this question in more than four years.
Positive perceptions of the war increased since June by 15 percent among women, and by 17 percent among independents.
58 percent also now say that the U.S. will definitely or probably succeed in Iraq.  A year ago, 47 percent predicted failure.

Section 3, Opinions About Energy Policy, also has interesting data. For example: 
A solid majority (55 percent) now support drilling in ANWR. That’s an increase of 13 percent—just since February—including 52 percent of independents. As the report puts it, “Support for ANWR drilling has increased across demographic groups.”
Respondents overwhelming support an “all of the above” approach to energy independence, with more than two thirds of respondents supporting everything from drilling in coastal waters to greater fuel efficiency, development of renewable fuels and increased fuel efficiency.
Support for offshore exploration “garners the same level of support in coastal states as it does elsewhere.”
Respondents were evenly split on the nation’s overall energy priorities: “45% say that expanding exploration, mining, and drilling, and the construction of new power plants should be the more important priority, while 47% say the priority should be on more energy conservation and regulation on energy use and prices.” That’s a sharp change from February, when 35 percent favored increased exploration, etc., and 55 percent conservation and regulation as the priority.