A majority of Americans now believe that President George Bush lied or deliberately exaggerated evidence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the run up to war, a new poll suggests.
The results of the Washington Post/ABC News survey also showed declining support for the war and for the President himself.
Some 54 per cent of respondents said they thought Mr Bush exaggerated or lied about the threat posed by Iraq in the weeks and months before the war.
Even so, nearly 70 per cent said they think Mr Bush "honestly believed" Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, while 52 per cent said they believed Mr Bush was "honest and trustworthy," that was down 7 per cent since late October and down 19 per cent from summer 2002.
The findings will make worrying reading for the White House just nine months before the presidential election.
The whereabouts of Saddam Hussein's much-vaunted weapons of mass destruction has been a source of major controversy both for the White House and for Downing Street.
Last month the top US weapons inspector in Iraq, David Kay, resigned, saying he did not believe that stockpiles of such weapons would be found.
The poll also found for the first time since the war ended that less than half of Americans - 48 per cent - believe the war was worth fighting, down 8 per cent from last month.
Half of the respondents said the war was not worth its consequences.