Thirty-nine percent (39%) of likely voters believe that America and her allies are winning the War on Terror. That’s unchanged from August and just one percentage point below the highest level of optimism recorded in 2007.

Only 28% now believe that the terrorists are winning. That’s down from 32% last month and is the lowest level of pessimism recorded in over a year (since July 2006).

While those numbers offer the most positive assessment of the past year, they remain far below the expectations measured during Election 2004. During that campaign season, a majority of Americans thought the U.S. and its allies were winning the War on Terror.

Following the report of General David Petraeus and a nationwide address by President Bush, there is also a slight increase in optimism concerning Iraq. Thirty percent (30%) think things will get better in that troubled nation over the next six months, up three points from August. Forty-three percent (43%) expect things to get worse, a four-point improvement from 47% a month ago.

As for long-term prospects, 32% of voters believe the West's mission in Iraq will eventually be regarded as a success, versus 50% who expect eventual failure. That's dominantly pessimistic, less so than last month. In our August poll, 57% expected history to deem the mission in Iraq a failure.

A separate survey found that 59% of Likely Voters want U.S. troops brought home from Iraq within a year. That is down slightly from 63% in late August. Twenty-six percent (26%) want the troops brought home right away.

In the wake of General Petraeus's controversial report on Iraq, the job President Bush is doing there still gets graded Poor by 51%—the same proportion who saw it that way last month. Twenty-nine percent (29%) say President Bush is doing a good or excellent job, 18% say a fair job.

Another survey found that MoveOn.org's ad slamming Petraeus as General "Betray Us" earns a failing grade from 58% of Americans. Just 23% gave the ad their approval.

Americans are about evenly split over whether the U.S. is safer now than it was before 9/11, with 41% saying Yes, 40% saying No.

Other surveys show that voters trust Republicans more than Democrats when it comes to the situation in Iraq. Voters are more evenly split when it comes to the larger topic of National Security.

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