American opposition to Iraq war gets growing

On the traditionally liberal West Coast, there is growing anger among ordinary citizens over the direction of the war and the policy of US President George W. Bush, as newspaper editorials lash the campaign as a disaster spiralling out of control.

"In the beginning, I was pro-Bush; now I am more pro-(Democratic presidential hopeful John) Kerry," 25-year-old Los Angeles traffic warden Eric Garcia told AFP after four Americans were dismembered by an Iraqi mob last week and dozens of soldiers were killed in a Shia uprising.

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"(Bush) is letting his representatives do whatever they want. The war sucks. If our troops stopped dying and came home, I wouldn't mind the war going on, but I think too much of our taxes are wasted over there."

A CNN/Time poll showed Friday that US public approval for Bush's handling of Iraq had slipped to 44 percent, with 51 percent opposed to it, as horrifying pictures of unrest flicker across television screens.

The telephone poll of 1,005 adults conducted Thursday said Bush's overall approval rating had sunk to a record low of 49 percent. It has sunk to just 38 percent in California, according to a San Jose State University survey.

Hollywood advertising executive Andrew Chase said he had been against the US invasion of Iraq from the start but that his opposition had surged because of the violence in recent days.

"This military action seems to be getting us more terrorist activity, and as the military activity has become stronger, so has my opposition," he told AFP as he sipped coffee in a Tinseltown coffee shop.

Movie theatre employee Greg Herger, 39, was equally depressed at the turn of events in Iraq 12 months after many Americans celebrated what they had thought was the end of a quick war against Saddam Hussein.

"We shouldn't have gone there in the first place; we shouldn't be there now. The whole thing is a mistake. I hope Bush is out of there this year," he said.

The anti-war protest group Answer Coalition, which organised rallies in 50 US cities Saturday, claimed US grassroots opposition to the war was growing as reality sinks in.