Poll: Petraeus recommendations tough sell to Americans

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/10/surge.poll/">Poll: Petraeus recommendations tough sell to Americans

updated 3 hours, 43 minutes ago

By Bill Schneider
CNN Senior Political Analyst

WASHINGTON (CNN) --

Do Americans trust the top U.S. military commander in Iraq to report what's really going
on without making the situation sound better than it is?

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll last month, Americans were asked that very question.
Fifty-three percent said they did not trust Gen. David Petraeus' report.

A USA Today-Gallup poll asked the public again this month whether they thought Petraeus' report
would be independent and objective. Again, 53 percent did not.

Petraeus sought Monday to convince Congress the situation in Iraq is improving.
He has some well-known supporters of this year's troop increase echoing his sentiments.

"In a short period of time, we have seen significant success," said Sen. John McCain
of Arizona, who's also a Republican candidate for president.

The public is skeptical of that, too.

Asked whether the troop increase is succeeding in improving conditions and ending violence in Iraq,
54 percent of those polled said it's not, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday.

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