The spate of recent violence is making the American people question anew Bush’s handling of the war. A poll released Monday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed that the war is eating away at the president’s approval rating, which has dropped from 55 percent in September to 43 percent this month. His disapproval rating grew from 36 percent to 47 during the same period.

Fifty percent of those surveyed said they wanted to keep troops in Iraq, down from 64 percent in September. Those who want to bring American troops home rose from 32 percent to 44 percent.

The poll of 790 adults was taken Thursday through Sunday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.