Americans split over Obama and McCain's Iraq stand

With Iraq being one of the major electoral issues in the United States, a survey shows that Americans are split down the middle between supporting  Barack Obama and John McCain over it.

A major surprise in the survey conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News reveals that even after the Democrats criticising Senator McCain's his position on Iraq, 72 per cent of those polled believed that he would make a good commander-in-chief.

The survey has shown that 47 per cent said they trust McCain more in handling the war while 45 per cent have more faith in Obama.

Senator Obama has been calling for a 16-month framework for withdrawal of troops but McCain has been stressing that arbitrary timelines are of no use and that withdrawal is pegged to the situation on the ground in Iraq.

In the category of independent voters who are seen as a critical component in this year's elections, 53 per cent have opposed Obama's timeframe.

Obama is scheduled to give what his campaign has said is a major foreign policy speech on Iraq on Tuesday.

The Post-ABC poll shows that 63 per cent of the Americans are taking the position that the war has not been worth the costs, but 46 per cent are of the view that the United States is making  significant progress in restoring civil order in Iraq, a six per cent rise in  this category of those polled in April.