Public Doubts Petraus Will Give Accurate Report On Iraq

The Washington Post is reporting in its Sunday, September 9, 2007 edition that the public doubts that General Petraeus will give an accurate report on conditions in Iraq during his congressional testimony. This is a quote from the article:

Only about four in 10 said they expect the general to give an accurate accounting of the situation in Iraq. A majority, 53 percent, said they think his report will try to make the situation in Iraq look better than it really is.

This story also reflects how much independents are adopting the Democratic point of view on Iraq. Here is a quote that illustrates that point:

Just 23 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of independents expected an honest depiction of conditions in Iraq. By contrast, two-thirds of Republicans anticipated a straightforward accounting.

The story also reports that the poll shows that Iraq remains the predominant political issue in Americans' minds. This is from the article:

Beyond current policy, the war has clear implications for the 2008 presidential race. More than a third identified Iraq as the campaign's single most important issue. The war received nearly three times as many mentions as the next most frequently cited issue, health care, at 13 percent. Nearly half of Democrats called Iraq the single most important issue, as did a third of independents and 28 percent of Republicans.

The bottom line is that for all of the PR spin about Petraeus's report to Congress that the Bushies have put out, the public remains skeptical. Hopefully Congressional Dems will read this report before the General testifies.