Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

U.S. soldiers secure the scene of a car bomb attack in Iraq's northern city of Mosul Oct. 19, 2006.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Sixty percent of the U.S. public said no one is winning in Iraq, a new poll released on Monday showed.

    The CNN poll, conducted over the past three days, found that only one in five of those surveyed believed the United States was winning the war in Iraq, a number that had dropped by half since December last year.

    Eighteen percent, on the other hand, believed insurgents were winning in Iraq, according to the poll, which was conducted of 1,013 adult Americans and had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

    Nearly two-thirds - 64 percent - of those polled opposed the war in Iraq, and 57 percent wanted the United States to announce it would pull all its troops from Iraq by a certain date.

    The poll also found increased pessimism for the war on terrorism. Sixty percent were dissatisfied with the way things were going for the United States in that effort, up from 53 percent in September.

    With two weeks to go before the congressional elections, the poll found that 51 percent of those interviewed believed Democrats would do a better job on Iraq, while 40 percent said Republicans would.

Iraqi War claims 2780 U.S. soldiers

    

U.S. soldiers secure the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad Oct. 21, 2006. The latest casualties brought to more than 2,780 the number of U.S. soldiers who has been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, according to media tally.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

BAGHDAD, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military announced here Saturday three deaths of its marines in Iraq's restive western province of Anbar.

    The three U.S. marines were killed during "enemy action" in Iraq's Anbar province on Saturday, said the military, without giving further details for the incident.

    The death toll is part of a major upsurge in U.S. casualties in Iraq in October, in which nearly 80 U.S. servicemen have died so far. Full story>>

     Bush: U.S. to make "every necessary change" to stabilize Iraq

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said on Saturday that he would make "every necessary change" to deal with the surge of violence and stabilize the situation in Iraq.

    In his weekly radio address, Bush acknowledged that a drive to stabilize Baghdad had not gone as planned. But he said he would not abandon his goal of building a self-sustaining Iraqi government. Full story>>