The latest opinion poll shows his approval rating on Iraq has risen by 10% since early November to 46%. On the economy, his rating has jumped 11 points, to 47%, the Washington Post reports.
His overall approval rating has risen to 47%, from 39% in early November. Some 52% say they disapprove of how he is handling his job.
The poll found that approval over Mr Bush's handling of the fight against terrorism had risen to 56%, from 48% last month.
Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an early presidential candidate for the Democrats in last year's election, recently reported on his latest trip to Iraq in the Wall Street Journal. He says: "The Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood." The progress in Iraq is "visible and practical". In the largely Kurdish north, security and prosperity are increasing. The primarily Shiite south remains largely free of terrorism and is experiencing greater economic activity. Even in the Sunni triangle, between Baghdad, Tikrit and Ramadi, where most of the terrorist enemy attacks occur, progress is being made: Despite the daily examples of brutal violence, Sunni candidates were able to carry out energetic election campaigns.
"It is a war between 27 million and 10,000" Lieberman wrote. "Twenty-seven million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity, and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam "revengists," Iraqi Islamic extremists, or al-Qaida foreign fighters."
(é uma guerra entre 27 milhões de iraquianos e 10 000 terroristas. 27 milhões de iraquianos que querem uma vida com liberdade, oportunidades e prosperidade, e apenas 10 000 terroristas que, ou querem vingar Saddam, ou são extremistas islâmicos iraquianos ou são combatentes estrangeiros da Al Qaeda)
