Poll: 90 percent support right to protest war

updated 9:17 a.m. ET Aug. 26, 2005

WASHINGTON - An overwhelming number of people say critics of the Iraq war should be free to voice their objections — a rare example of widespread agreement about a conflict that has divided the nation along partisan lines.

Nearly three weeks after a grieving California mother named Cindy Sheehan started her anti-war protest near President Bush’s Texas ranch, nine of 10 people surveyed in an AP-Ipsos poll say it’s OK for war opponents to publicly share their concerns about the conflict.

“Part of the Constitution is the First Amendment,” said Mike Malone, a salesman from Odessa, Fla. “We have the right to disagree with the government.”

With the U.S. death toll in Iraq climbing past 1,870 with an especially bloody August, the public’s opinion of the Bush administration’s handling of the war has been eroding over the past two years.

60 percent want to stay the course
Overall attitudes about the war — while negative — haven’t changed dramatically through the summer and a solid majority, 60 percent, want U.S. troops to stick it out until Iraq is stable.

The poll found that most people disapprove of the Bush administration’s conduct of the war and think the war was a mistake. Half believe it has increased the threat of terrorism. Democrats overwhelmingly question the president’s policies, while Republicans overwhelmingly support them.

Public doubts about the war have gotten new attention since Sheehan, who lost her son Casey in Iraq last year, took her protest to Crawford, Texas, on Aug. 6.

Hundreds of fellow protesters have been drawn to Camp Casey, named for her 24-year-old son. Sheehan’s protest sparked hundreds of vigils around the country a week ago. It has also produced plans by military families who support the war to come to Crawford for a pro-Bush rally. The president says Sheehan doesn’t represent the views of many military families.

“I never claimed that I spoke for all the military families, but I know I speak for a lot of military families and Gold Star families,” she told NBC’s “Today” show Friday. “And the president really doesn’t ever talk to someone who disagrees with him, so of course he hears his side of the story.”

The AP-Ipsos poll found that Republicans are the most likely to disapprove of people voicing opposition to the war.

Retiree Ruth Carver of Sellersburg, Ind., said she disagrees with Sheehan’s protest. “I think her son would be ashamed of her,” said Carver, a Republican. “If I don’t like what’s going on, I can go to the polls every four years.”

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