Washington Post-ABC News Poll: The Capture of Saddam Hussein
Monday, December 15, 2003 | | | | This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone December 14, 2003, among 506 randomly selected adults nationwide. Margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus 5 percentage points. The practical difficulties of doing a survey in a single day represent other potential sources of error in this poll. Fieldwork by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, PA. *= less than 0.5 percent Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat?
---------Approve--------- --------Disapprove------- No
NET Strongly Somewhat NET Strongly Somewhat opin.
12/14/03 57 37 20 39 29 10 5
12/7/03 53 32 21 40 27 13 7
11/16/03 57 34 23 39 28 11 4
10/29/03 56 30 26 42 29 13 2
10/13/03 53 33 20 43 29 13 4
9/30/03 54 34 20 44 29 15 2
9/13/03 58 35 23 40 27 14 2
9/7/03 56 34 22 41 28 13 4
8/11/03 59 37 22 37 23 14 4
7/10/03 59 35 24 38 25 13 3
6/22/03 68 45 23 29 18 11 4
4/30/03 71 50 22 26 9 17 3
4/16/03 74 52 22 23 14 9 3
4/9/03 77 58 19 20 14 6 4
4/3/03 71 54 16 25 19 7 4
3/23/03 68 NA NA 27 NA NA 4
3/20/03 67 NA NA 28 NA NA 5
3/2/03 62 38 23 35 22 13 4
2/23/03 60 NA NA 34 NA NA 6
2/9/03 64 42 21 34 20 14 3
2/1/03 62 41 21 34 22 13 4
1/28/03 62 43 19 36 23 13 2
1/27/03 59 39 21 37 22 15 4
1/20/03 59 36 23 38 22 16 2
12/15/02 66 37 28 32 20 12 2
11/4/02 LV 67 45 23 31 20 12 1
11/3/02 LV 67 45 22 32 20 12 1
11/2/02 LV 67 47 20 32 23 9 1
10/27/02 All 67 39 28 29 16 13 4
10/27/02 LV 68 47 21 30 16 14 3
9/26/02 67 42 25 30 18 12 3
9/8/02 71 42 28 27 15 12 3
7/28/02 69 39 31 28 14 14 3
7/15/02 72 42 31 25 13 12 2
6/17/02 74 42 32 22 13 9 4
6/9/02 77 41 36 20 11 9 3
5/19/02 76 48 28 22 13 8 3
4/21/02 78 47 31 20 10 9 2
3/28/02 79 49 30 18 10 8 3
3/10/02 82 52 30 16 7 9 2
1/27/02 83 56 27 14 7 7 3
12/19/01 86 64 22 12 6 6 2
11/27/01 89 69 21 9 5 4 1
11/6/01 89 65 24 9 4 5 2
10/9/01 92 76 16 6 3 3 1
9/27/01 90 70 20 6 3 3 4
9/13/01 86 63 23 12 6 5 2
9/9/01 55 26 29 41 22 20 3
8/12/01 61 28 33 31 17 14 8
7/30/01 59 28 30 38 22 17 3
6/3/01 55 27 28 40 22 18 6
4/22/01 63 33 30 32 16 16 5
3/25/01 58 NA NA 33 NA NA 8
2/25/01 55 NA NA 23 NA NA 22
2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?
Approve Disapprove No opinion
12/14/03 58 38 4
11/16/03 48 48 4
10/29/03 47 51 2
10/13/03 51 47 2
9/29/03 50 47 3
9/13/03 52 46 2
9/7/03 49 47 4
8/24/03 56 37 7
8/11/03 56 41 3
7/10/03 58 41 2
6/22/03 67 30 2
4/30/03 75 22 2
Compare to: The situation with Iraq and Saddam Hussein
3/27/03 69 26 5
3/23/03 71 26 3
3/20/03 65 29 5
3/17/03 64 29 7
3/9/03 55 38 8
2/23/03 55 39 6
2/9/03 61 37 2
2/5/03 61 32 7
2/1/03 61 35 3
1/28/03 58 38 4
1/27/03 57 40 3
1/20/03 50 46 4
12/15/02 58 37 5
11/4/02 LV 56 40 4
11/3/02 LV 57 40 4
11/2/02 LV 56 41 3
10/27/02 57 38 5
9/26/02 58 39 3
9/14/02 65 31 4
8/29/02 52 36 12
3. Do you think the U.S. campaign against terrorism is going very well, fairly well, not too well or not well at all? ----------Well---------- --------Not well-------- No
NET Very Fairly NET Not too At all op.
12/14/03 65 17 47 33 21 12 2
10/29/03 62 8 54 38 23 14 1
9/7/03 69 12 57 29 19 10 2
4/30/03 83 26 57 16 10 6 1
9/26/02 73 15 58 26 17 9 1
9/8/02 70 10 60 29 21 8 1
7/15/02 75 15 60 24 16 8 1
4/21/02 73 11 63 26 17 9 1
3/10/02 84 21 63 15 10 6 1
1/27/02 88 32 56 11 8 4 1
4. All in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, do you think the war with Iraq was worth fighting, or not?
Worth Not worth No
fighting fighting opinion
12/14/03 53 42 5
11/16/03 52 44 4
10/29/03 54 44 2
10/13/03 54 44 2
9/13/03 61 37 2
9/7/03 54 42 4
8/24/03 57 37 5
8/11/03 61 35 4
7/10/03 57 40 3
6/22/03 64 33 3
4/30/03 70 27 4
Gulf War: 2/2/92* 66 32 2
7/28/91 67 30 3
6/2/91 70 26 3
3/4/91 86 13 1
*2/2/92 and previous: "the Persian Gulf war"; 3/4/91: "this war" 5. Do you happen to have heard or read about the news that Saddam Hussein was captured yesterday by U.S. forces in Iraq, or haven't you heard about that yet?
Yes No No opinion
12/14/03 95 5 0
5a. Do you think Saddam's capture means the big challenges facing the United States in Iraq are over, or do you think there are big challenges to the United States in Iraq still ahead?
Challenges Challenges No
over ahead opinion
12/14/03 7 90 3
6. How much do you think Saddam's capture will do to:
------Help------- ---------Not help--------
Great Some- Not Hardly Won't No
NET deal what NET much at all (vol.) opin.
a. restore peace and
stability to Iraq 81 39 41 18 8 8 2 2
b. end attacks on U.S.
and coalition military
forces in Iraq 64 15 49 30 16 12 3 6
c. contribute to long-term
peace and stability in
the Mideast 70 24 46 28 14 13 2 2
d. contribute to the
long-term security
of the United States 65 23 42 34 16 15 2 2
7. Do you think the United States should withdraw its military forces from Iraq now that Saddam has been captured, or do you think the United States should keep its military forces in Iraq until a stable government is in place there?
Withdraw Remain No opinion
12/14/03 18 80 2
8. Some people say Saddam should be put on trial by an Iraqi tribunal, to show that Iraq now follows the rule of law and can confront its past. Others say Saddam should be put on trial by an international tribunal set up by the United Nations, to ensure his trial is fair and impartial. What do you think? Should Saddam be put on trial by an Iraqi tribunal, or by a United Nations tribunal?
Military
Iraqi UN U.S. coalition Something No
tribunal tribunal (vol.) (vol.) else (vol.) opin.
12/14/03 39 52 2 * 3 5
9. Which punishment would you prefer for Saddam if he is convicted of war crimes: the death penalty, or life in prison with no chance of parole?
Death Life in No
penalty prison opinion
12/14/03 60 32 8
10. Would you say the war in Iraq is going better than you expected for the United States, worse than you expected, or about the way you expected it to?
About No
Better Worse as expected opinion
12/14/03 14 27 57 2
3/23/03* 19 10 66 6
Persian Gulf War:
2/24/91 49 5 43 3
2/5/91 27 13 55 4
1/27/91 28 15 54 2
1/20/91 39 7 50 4
1/18/91 50 4 45 2
*"So far, would you say the war is going better"
*= less than 0.5 percent
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