Public opinion of the war in Iraq is starting to shift — most prominently at the military bases that have supplied the troops currently stationed in Iraq.

“I want my husband home,” Ms. Leija, a mother of three children, said. “I am so on edge. When they first left, I thought yeah, this will be bad, but war is what they trained for. But they are not fighting a war. They are not doing what they trained for. They have become police in a place they’re not welcome.”

Military families, so often the ones to put a cheery face on war, are growing vocal. Since major combat for the 150,000 troops in Iraq was declared over on May 1, more than 60 Americans, including 25 killed in hostile encounters, have died in Iraq, about half the number of deaths in the two months of the initial campaign. Frustrations became so bad recently at Fort Stewart, Ga., that a colonel, meeting with 800 seething spouses, most of them wives, had to be escorted from the session. “They were crying, cussing, yelling and screaming for their men to come back,” said Lucia Braxton, director of community services at Fort Stewart. The signs of discomfort seem to be growing beyond the military bases. According to a Gallup poll published on Tuesday, the percentage of the public who think the war is going badly has risen to 42 percent, from 13 percent in May. Likewise, the number of respondents who think the war is going well has dropped, from 86 percent in May to 70 percent a month ago to 56 percent.

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[See also: Playing catchup | Just in case things weren’t tense enough | By the numbers | You’re never too old to die for your country | The 24.6 Second College Degree ]

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