As US President George W. Bush prepares to address the nation about Iraq, a new poll finds that most Americans do not believe the administration's claims that impressive gains are being made against the insurgency.

However, a clear majority of respondents in the Washington Post- ABC News Poll, which was published Tuesday, is willing to keep US forces in Iraq for an extended time to stabilize the country, in contrast with other recent polls which show a majority saying the US should withdraw part or all of its troops.

The survey found that 22 percent of Americans say they believe that the insurgency is getting weaker, while 24 percent believe it is strengthening. More than half -- 53 percent -- say resistance to US and Iraqi government forces has not changed, a view that matches the assessment offered last week in congressional testimony by the US commander in Iraq, General John P. Abizaid.

By a narrow margin, the public continues to think the war has not been worth the cost, and bigger majorities fear that Iraq has crippled the ability of the United States to respond to conflicts elsewhere in the world and has damaged efforts to recruit young people into the military. A large majority, about six in 10 people, say the United States is "bogged down" in Iraq.

Overwhelming majorities of Americans think the Bush administration and US military leaders fundamentally underestimated the difficulty of the war and failed to anticipate the tenacity of the insurgency in Iraq.

There were some encouraging signs for Bush, however. A narrow majority -- 52 percent -- believes that the war has contributed to the long-term security of the United States, a five-point increase from earlier this month.

The survey found that only one in eight Americans currently favors an immediate pullout of US forces, while a solid majority continues to agree with Bush that the United States must remain in Iraq until civil order is restored -- a goal that most of those surveyed acknowledge is, at best, several years away.

Bush will give a nationally televised address Tuesday night from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to reinvigorate public support for a war that has grown unpopular over time and convince Americans the administration has a strategy that will lead to success over time.

Source: Xinhua