A March 29 New York Times article by reporters Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Carl Hulse stated, “Republicans say Mr. Bush may be unpopular, but his policy of sending additional troops to Iraq may have more support than he does.” The Times went on to report that “aides to Mr. Bush say the public is beginning to see improvements on the ground in Iraq and is willing to give Mr. Bush's troop buildup a chance.” But while the article mentioned a March 26 Pew Research Center poll that found that 59 percent of respondents favored lawmakers setting a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, the Times did not mention recent polling that undermines the assertions of the unnamed “aides to Mr. Bush.”

• Contrary to the aides' assertion that the public “is beginning to see improvements on the ground in Iraq,” a March 27 USA Today/Gallup poll found that 65 percent of respondents felt the increase in the number of U.S. troops in Baghdad is either “not making much difference” or making the situation there “worse.” Moreover, a March 17 Newsweek poll found that 61 percent of respondents think the U.S. is “losing ground in its efforts to establish security and democracy in Iraq.”
• Contrary to the aides' claim that the public “is willing to give Mr. Bush's troop buildup a chance,” the March 17 Newsweek poll found that just 32 percent of respondents favored “Bush's decision earlier this year to increase the level of U.S. troops in Iraq,” while 64 percent were opposed to it.