Across US, rising doubts

If nothing else, she adds, she has learned a lot about a part of the world of which she knew little. Like many Americans, the distinction between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and Kurds, to her has become a familiar one.

"I didn't realize there were so many factions," says Ms. Lewis.

Three years ago, men took a more optimistic view of the situation in Iraq than women did, but that gender gap has now almost disappeared. In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 50 percent of men surveyed thought the US could establish a stable government in Iraq, down from 62 percent who thought so in December.

But one meaningful gap in US opinion persists, say pollsters, and it's political. The recent Pew poll found that 74 percent of Republicans think the US will succeed in Iraq, as opposed to only 34 percent of Democrats.

Among those who support the war effort, many still support it strongly.

In Pascagoula, Miss., home of the National Guard's 890th Combat Engineer Battalion armory, Charles Scott, a construction contractor from nearby Lucedale, has seen the war's impact up close. A friend from high school died in Iraq recently.

That even changed Mr. Scott's mind, slightly. "I was 100 percent behind the war and I'm 101 percent behind it now," he says. "I just want the public to follow through so the guys who died over there didn't die in vain."

According to this Mississippian, the war has played a major role in the failure of terrorists to strike at the US again. And it has united Americans in the sense that all are now more aware of assessing any threat to themselves or their neighborhoods.

As far as the war's impact on the American public, Scott acknowledges that the bad news from overseas is painful. But in the end, he says, "it's just publicity."

Opinion in the Midwest mirrors the rest of the country - it's split.

In Chicago, for instance, the dominant mood may be one of pessimism and uncertainty, but some people still express confidence.

As he browsed for videos at a Blockbuster in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood, Billy Lampley said he still supported the war. Difficulties since the invasion were no reason for pessimism.

"When it comes to war there are always going to be surprises," he says. "You never know what's going to come up next."

He continues to support the war and President Bush, in part, because it is important "to show that America's going to take a stand for what it feels is right," he says.

Mr. Lampley's religious faith also plays a role: "When it comes down to it, I'm a Christian, and I believe that Bush is. And that's a reason I stand behind him also."

But Lampley, who said he checks news from Iraq every week or so, doesn't speculate on how events might unfold in the months or years to come.

"There's no way to say at this point, I don't believe," he says.

Around the corner at the Book Cellar bookstore, Shannon Rose is trying to look on the bright side.

"I'm a hopeless optimist that it will work out," says Ms. Rose, who opposed the start of the war three years ago. "Providing an outlet for democratic values, that's a good thing."

But it's unrealistic to expect that simply establishing the procedures of democratic government will lead to peace or true democracy, she adds. She points to the electoral victory of Hamas militants in last month's Palestinian elections.

"I think it's bleak," she says. "I think my son will have to deal with it his entire life, and that's sad."

A common dilemma for those who oppose the invasion is when to pull out troops now that the US has made the commitment in Iraq.

Chicagoan Richard Streetman says he remembers watching the war begin three years ago on a television in a bowling alley.

"I just had this visceral response," he recalls. "I watched them go in to attack and thought, 'This is insane.' "

His opposition to the war has not waned, but he is now resigned to a long American commitment in Iraq.

"We'll be there at some force level for a long, long, time," he says.

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