President Bush meets with President-elect Obama in 2008 (White House)
Amber Phillips, Washington Post: On Iraq, President Obama is getting as much blame as George W. Bush
In 2008, Barack Obama ran as the presidential candidate opposed to the war in Iraq. In 2011, he said troops would be gone from Iraq by Christmas. In 2012, he was elected to a second term.
In 2015, amid more beheadings and destroyed ancient Iraqi and Syrian cities, an increasing number of Americans disapprove of the president's handling of the Middle East's most pressing terrorism threat, the Islamic State -- a fact that threatens to cast a shadow over Obama's legacy.
According to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, 55 percent of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling the increasingly violent terrorist group that's occupying large swaths of Iraq and Syria, while just 31 percent approve. The number of Americans who strongly disapprove of the president's handling of the situation has risen 12 percentage points since The Post and ABC first asked in September.
Update #1: Poll: George W. Bush Viewed More Favorably Than Obama -- CBS
Update #2: Why George W. Bush is more popular than President Obama -- Husna Haq, CSM
WNU Editor: If true this is a big change in U.S. public opinion, and one that I am sure does not make the White House happy. But if these trends continue .... I can only image what these numbers will be like when President Obama leaves office 20 months from now. My prediction .... especially if US forces are fighting and dying on a regular basis in Iraq .... they will be equal to what were President Bush's numbers when he left office in 2008 ... and maybe even worse.
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