* 58 percent disapprove of the way the Bush administration has conducted the war in Iraq.
* 53 percent think the war was a mistake.
* 50 percent think the war has increased the threat of terrorism worldwide. 20 percent think it has decreased the threat; 28 percent think it's had no effect.
* Respondents were given only two choices about where to go from here: 60 percent favored keeping troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized; 37 percent favored bringing U.S. troops home immediately.
Constitution Watch
Dexter Filkins and James Glanz write in the New York Times: "Talks over the Iraqi constitution reached a breaking point on Thursday, with a parliamentary session to present the document being canceled and President Bush personally calling one of the country's most powerful Shiite leaders in an effort to broker a last-minute deal.
"Mr. Bush intervened when some senior Shiite leaders said they had decided to bypass their Sunni counterparts, as well as Iraqi lawmakers, and send the document directly to Iraqi voters for their approval. . . .
"A decision by the Shiites to move ahead without the Sunnis would be a considerable blow to efforts by the Bush administration to bring the leaders of the Sunni minority into the negotiations over the constitution."
Filkins and Glanz write that Bush called Abdul Aziz Hakim, a cleric and the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
"The concern that a deal on the constitution was falling apart appeared to have to prompted Mr. Bush to call Mr. Hakim to urge a [compromise]. One Iraqi official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the Americans, who have already expressed their frustration with the Sunnis, have recently become irritated with what they regard as the stubbornness of the Shiites as well."
White House spokesman Trent Duffy this morning confirmed that Bush called Hakim briefly on Wednesday afternoon (Thursday, Iraq time) "to discuss current developments in Iraq's constitutional process." Duffy explained: "As I said yesterday, this is an Iraqi process, but the United States is doing everything it can to assist them in meeting their own obligations and deadlines under the Transitional Administrative Law."
Violence?
In his Nampa speech on Wednesday, Bush talked about the constitutional process and said that "what's important is that the Iraqis are resolving these issues through debate and discussion, not at the barrel of a gun."
Duffy echoed that in his press gaggle yesterday: "They are working together in -- in a non-violent fashion to achieve a very important objective here," he said.
