Poll Results: Country Split on Obama's Iraq Policy

Do you agree with how President Obama is handling Iraq?

We put the question to Patch readers last week and the results were fairly predictable. More than 9,000 votes were cast and the country was divided down the middle.

Half of respondents said Obama was handling Iraq correctly and that part of the problems we face today were created by past military action. But, about half the voters thought that Obama was allowing Iraq to unravel and needed to take more aggressive military action to get things under control.

Click here for the poll results.

The issue also generate a fair amount of passion amongst Patch readers garnering more than 1,350 comments.

User JMarsh wrote: "No. The religious conflicts in Iraq date back centuries. I feel we never should have gone there in the first place. Too bad those who made the decision to do so didn't do a little research on the history of the country. If their problems are going to be fixed, THEY need to do it. We can't do it for them. I totally agree with all those who have commented about the need to take care of our own people and our veterans before trying to fix the mess over there."

User conrad zimmerman wrote: No more American troops in Iraq. Nothing was accomplished before; nothing will be accomplished this time. Our resources are better spent gaining energy independence which of itself will render Iraq irrelevant. President Obama was right in withdrawing American forces. Now he is sending them back. It is wrong.

User Genvieve LaChappele wrote: I feel bad for our military. The Commander-in-Chief has no management skills and is completely detached from the situation. The good men and women in our military are paying quite a price. A price that is not valued in dollars and cents. We elected a President that has no record of any type of executive experience. Lives have been lost because of it. Pointing fingers does not account for what has happened on his watch. Tough decisions need to be made by a leader. A real leader.
You can check out the entire discussion on what the U.S. should do, if anything, about Iraq here.