A March 22 Washington Post analysis of House Democrats' efforts to link a timeline for withdrawing from Iraq to a pending war-funding bill mischaracterized the American public's views on withdrawal. The Post cited White House senior adviser Karl Rove's view that, in the Post's words, “the public is not confident about withdrawing, regardless of the conditions on the ground.” The article did note that Democratic leaders are “emboldened by polls showing the war becoming more unpopular.” But it did not mention that, contrary to Rove's claim, a majority of Americans actually favor withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq either immediately or within one year -- more than the percentage who favor tying withdrawal to “conditions on the ground,” the language the Post attributed to Rove.

The analysis began by highlighting the “legislative battle” between the White House and the House of Representatives over Iraq policy:

With the House facing a critical vote on Iraq this week, the White House finds itself embroiled in a fierce legislative battle to keep money flowing to the war effort, with the outcome dependent on its ability to show real progress in Baghdad and keep Republicans in line behind its veto strategy.

Prodded by liberal activists and emboldened by polls showing the war becoming more unpopular, Democratic leaders have gone further than many imagined possible only a few months ago. They have united a cross section of the party behind a plan for a phased withdrawal of U.S. combat troops to be completed by August 2008, part of a war spending package to be considered today on the House floor.

The analysis later claimed that “White House officials believe that Democrats are incorrectly interpreting the results of the 2006 elections as a mandate to begin pulling troops out of Iraq,” adding Rove's comments regarding public opinion on Iraq:

White House officials believe that Democrats are incorrectly interpreting the results of the 2006 elections as a mandate to begin pulling troops out of Iraq and are being dragged over a cliff by their liberal base. In a recent interview, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove acknowledged the dissatisfaction with the war but said that the public is not confident about withdrawing, regardless of the conditions on the ground.

“People instinctively understand if we leave before the job is done it's a defeat for the United States, and they don't want America to lose,” Rove said.

Democrats are equally confident, and even a narrow vote in support of their plan would signal how rapidly the public has turned against the war.

“We were on the right side of the national referendum last November,” said Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense. “We have a mandate to bring our troops home as soon and as safely as possible. If we can't accomplish that, we will have let down the people who worked so hard for a democratic majority.” He predicted that Bush will eventually be forced to negotiate with Democrats.

The Post, however, did not give any indication that public opinion polls have shown that a majority of Americans favor withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, whatever the situation on the ground. Indeed, a March 9-11 CNN poll found that when asked when the United States should withdraw from Iraq, 58 percent of respondents said either “withdraw now” (21 percent) or “withdraw within a year” (37 percent), while 39 percent said “the U.S. should keep its troops in Iraq as long as is needed to turn control over to the Iraqi government.” A March 2-3 USA Today/Gallup poll had similar findings. The poll asked respondents to choose from four options regarding troop levels in Iraq. Fifty-eight percent said either “withdraw immediately” (20 percent) or “withdraw in 12 months time” (38 percent), compared with 39 percent preferring to “withdraw, take as many years as needed” (26 percent) or “send more troops” (13 percent).