UPI Poll: Iraq war hurts U.S. reputation

WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- Nearly 80 percent of participants in a UPI-Zogby International poll said the Iraq war has hurt the United States' standing the international community.

More than half -- 51.1 percent -- of the 7,562 U.S. residents who responded to the question strongly agreed with the statement, "The Iraq war has damaged the standing of the United States in the international community."

Another 25.4 percent said they somewhat agreed with the statement while 21.2 percent with somewhat disagreed (12.8 percent) or strongly disagreed (8.4 percent).

Vast percentages of self-described Democrats, whose party has bashed the war, were in agreement with the statement, with 86.2 percent strongly agreeing and 9.2 percent somewhat agreeing. Some 14.8 percent of Republicans strongly agreed and 40.8 percent somewhat agreed.

Another 24.9 percent of Republican respondents somewhat disagreed and 16.5 percent strongly disagreed. Just 3.4 percent of Democrats either somewhat or strongly disagreed that the war has hurt the country's reputation.

The Zogby interactive poll was conducted July 13-16 and has a margin of error of 1.1 percentage points.