Poll: Americans Back Afghanistan Drawdown

President Barack Obama’s plan to remove troops from Afghanistan appears to be generally favored by a wide majority of Americans.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 72 percent support the drawdown, compared with 23 percent who oppose it. 5 percent have no opinion.

However, opinions are split over the specific details of the plan to remove 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by next summer. While 43 percent say that the level of withdrawal is “about right,” 29 percent responded that it’s too low and 19 percent said too high. In addition, 33 percent said the 2012 target should be reached sooner, whereas 31 percent say there should be no timetable.

President Obama unveiled details of the drawdown, which will begin in July, last week. Under it, 10,000 troops are scheduled to be removed by the end of the year.

The poll was conducted June 25^th-26^th among 1,034 randomly chosen adults.

Panetta To Be Sworn In Friday

Leon Panetta will be sworn in as Defense Secretary Friday morning, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today.

The event will take place during a private ceremony held in the office of the Pentagon’s General Counsel, Jeh Johnson. Outgoing Secretary Robert Gates is scheduled to return to his home in Washington on Thursday, but will remain in his position and in contact with the military until Panetta officially takes his ceremonial oath.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Panetta last Tuesday. Panetta will be leaving the top spot at the Central Intelligence Agency to take the reins at the Defense Department.

Bachmann Kicks Off 2012 Campaign

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) officially kicked off her Presidential campaign Monday, telling a crowd of supporters in Waterloo, Iowa that the country “can’t afford four more years of Barack Obama.”

Touting an overall dissatisfaction with “big government,” Bachmann gave several nods to the conservative movement during her announcement and at one point defended it as more than a fringe phenomenon.

“It’s made up of disaffected Democrats, independents, people who’ve never been political a day in their life, libertarians, Republicans,” Bachmann, the chair of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus” said. “We’re people who simply want America back on the right track again.”

Although Bachmann enters a packed GOP field, a recent poll from Iowa’s Des Moines Register shows that she could unsettle frontrunner Mitt Romney’s lead by winning Iowa, the first primary state. According to the poll, Bachmann trails Romney by only one percent, coming in with 22 percent support from likely caucus-voters compared to his 23.

Senate Unanimously Approves Panetta As Next Defense Chief

Leon Panetta was confirmed by the Senate Tuesday as the next Secretary of Defense.

Panetta, currently the Director of the CIA, received support from all 100 Senators. He will assume the position after current Defense Secretary Robert Gates retires at the end of the June.

Panetta will come to the Pentagon amid shifts in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama is expected to outline plans to withdrawal U.S. troops from the country tomorrow night.

General David Petraeus, who currently commands American forces in Afghanistan, is set to take over from Panetta at the intelligence agency.

Congressional Approval Drops

According to a recent Gallup survey, Americans’ approval of Congress has declined seven points since May and now stands at stands at 17 percent.

Gallup attributes the decline to a return to normalcy after a government-wide spike in approval following the death of Osama bin Laden. In addition, the survey was conducted amid the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal.

The new data also reflects the lowest approval for Congressional Republicans since the GOP took control the lower chamber. Approval rates among Republicans is at 14 percent, 11 points lower than the 25 percent approval rating among Democrats.

The poll was conducted among  a random sampling of 1,020 American adults between June 9 through 12^th.