Voters abandon PM over Iraq war
 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17697136%255E2702,00.html

John Kerin
December 31, 2005

VOTER support for John Howard's decision to go to war in Iraq is in freefall, with even Coalition supporters who backed the 2003 invasion now questioning the value of the protracted conflict.

Fewer than half of Coalition supporters now believe the Iraq war was worth it, according to a Newspoll conducted exclusively for The Weekend Australian.

In total, two-thirds of Australians, about 66 per cent, now believe it was not worth going to war, up from 58 per cent a year ago. Just 27 per cent believe it was worth it, compared with 32per cent a year ago.

Among Coalition voters, only 43 per cent believe it was worth going to war, a sharp drop from 50 per cent last December and 63 per cent early last year. Despite the figures, however, insurgent violence, kidnappings and a dispute over power-sharing in the wake of the December 15 Iraqi elections continue to jeopardise any plans by the Prime Minister to withdraw troops from the troubled country.