Only 55 percent of Americans believe alleged WMD would be found in Iraq, said the poll

WASHINGTON, July 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Spiraling attacks against American forces and the failure to evidence of Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction are eroding Americans’ support for the U.S.-British occupation of the oil-rich country, according to a poll released Monday, July 1.

Down from 73 percent in April, only 56 percent of the Americans polled by the USA Today newspaper, CNN and Gallup institute said the invasion of Iraq was worthwhile.

The number of Americans confident that the U.S.-British forces would find evidence of Iraq's alleged banned weapons - the main justification for the war - or ousted president Saddam Hussein also slipped by large margins.

Nose-diving from 84 percent in late March, only 55 percent of the respondents said they were confident alleged weapons of mass destruction would be found.

Fewer than half of the Americans polled, 48 percent, said they were confident Saddam would be captured or killed, down from 70 percent in March.

The poll came as war-ravaged Iraq was simmering with anger over foreign military occupation and the U.S. civil administration’ s rejection to set a national representative government at the helm after the ouster of Saddam.

More than 60 U.S. and British soldiers were killed in hit-and-run attacks since U.S. President Bush declared the end of major combat May 1, amid rising calls for the occupation forces to pack up and leave.

Forty-nine percent of the 1,003 adult American polled last week are not confident that the United States can stop such attacks on its forces, but three-quarters of the respondents believe the number of combat deaths since April was expected given the dangers in Iraq.

An earlier poll carried out by the BBC on June 14  showed that a majority of the 11,000 people polled in 11 world countries opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Questioning, the publicly funded UK broadcaster found that 57 per cent had an unfavorable attitude to U.S. president George W. Bush – the main champion of the war.

Also, a poll published by The Times newspaper in June found that most Britons believe London and Washington deliberately exaggerated evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in order to garner support for the war, which was not mandated by the U.N. Security Council.

More than two months into the end of the invasion, no banned weapons have been found so far in Iraq, raising speculations that the so-called intelligence on Iraq’s weapons program was “doctored” to better make the case for the invasion of the oil-rich country.