Two new polls show that for the first time a majority of Americans think the War in Iraq was a mistake. Bush's approval rating is under 50%. And 52% of Americans think Rumsfeld should lose his job.

Two new polls show that for the first time a majority of Americans believe the Iraq war to be a mistake. They also showed the president's job approval rating had dropped below 50 per cent only a little over a month after his re-election.

According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, 56 per cent of Americans a new high said the conflict in Iraq was “not worth fighting”, given the costs. Fifty-seven per cent said they disapproved of the way Mr Bush was managing the war, although 53 per cent did approve of his efforts on terrorism.

A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll also showed a majority of Americans disapproved of how the war was being handled and that 52 per cent believed that Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, should resign. His job approval rating fell from 71 per cent in April 2003 at the height of Iraq invasion to 41 per cent, according to the poll.

Too little, too late.