A majority of Americans are opposed to sending more troops to Iraq, according to a new poll.

The Newsweek poll also found that President George W Bush's well rehearsed address to the nation to win support for a surge in troops in Iraq failed to impress a majority of Americans. The overall rating for the way Bush is handling the Iraq war has plummeted to an all time low of 24 per cent with whopping 70 per cent disapproving.

Bush's job approval rating remains at its all-time low -- 31 percent. Sixty-two per cent of those polled disapprove of how he is handling his job as President. Only 30 per cent say they are satisfied with how things are going in the United States; 62 percent are dissatisfied

The poll shows that a solid 68 per cent people oppose the strategy and only 26 per cent support it. Of the 68 per cent, 45 per cent strongly oppose over 23 per cent moderately support it. Of the 26 per cent, only 12 per cent strongly support it and remaining moderate favour it.

But 50 per cent want the troop levels to be reduced and only 23 per cent favour increase in the numbers. Another 18 per cent want to keep the number of troops at the current level, finds the poll being published in the upcoming issue of the magazine.

As many as 67 per cent of respondents say they think the United States is losing ground in its efforts to provide security and democracy in Iraq; only 24 per cent say it is making progress.

Meanwhile, taking a closer look at Americans' thoughts on the situation in Iraq, a majority now says they are not too confident (29 per cent) or not at all confident (36 per cent) that the Iraqi government will be able to control the violence and provide security to its citizens if US troops are withdrawn.

Twenty-two per cent say they are somewhat confident and 5 per cent say they are very confident, the poll shows. When it comes to US leadership, 55 per cent of those polled say they have more faith in the Democratic Congressional leaders to make decisions regarding Iraq policy versus 32 per cent who trust Bush to make better decisions.

When asked whether Congress should try to block the additional funding Bush would need for additional troops, poll respondents were split evenly: 46 per cent say lawmakers should, 46 per cent say they should not.

Americans differ on what might result from increasing the number of US troops in Iraq, the poll shows. Sixty-seven per cent say it is very or somewhat likely that it will lead to increased US casualties without helping achieve the goals there; 62 per cent say it is very or somewhat likely that it will make the Iraqis more dependent on US military protection and only delay the time when they are ready to take responsibility for their own security; 33 per cent say it is somewhat or very likely that it will give the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds time to settle their differences.