Most Americans want Rumsfeld to step down

The CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows 52 percent of Americans surveyed want Rumsfeld to resign, while only 36 percent say the embattled defence secretary should remain at the post he has held since 2001.

His approval rating has dropped from 71 percent in April 2003, when Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was toppled, to 41 percent in the new poll.

Rumsfeld has come under fire on a range of issues from prisoner abuse in Iraq to his alleged insensitivity to equipment problems plaguing US troops. He faced new heat after reports he used a machine to sign his condolence letters to families of soldiers killed in Iraq.

Despite mounting criticism from US lawmakers, including fellow Republicans, President George W. Bush defended Rumsfeld during a news conference Monday, saying the Pentagon chief was doing "a really fine job" and would stay on.