WASHINGTON (AFP) - With Iraq the top voter issue just over two weeks ahead of elections, nearly two in three Americans (65 percent) say the United States is losing the battle to establish security and democracy there, a poll showed.

Fifty-four percent of those surveyed in the latest Newsweek poll believed that President George W. Bush had made the wrong decision in invading Iraq in 2003, while 39 percent thought he had made the right decision.

Bush consulted his top military commanders on Saturday about the dramatic upsurge in violence in Iraq, which has stepped up public calls for a change in strategy.

Thirty-one percent of Americans said the situation in Iraq will be the subject weighing on their minds the most when they vote in the November 7 midterm elections, according to Newsweek.

For 18 percent of those polled, the economy was the top concern. Some 16 percent cited health care as their top concern, and 13 percent pointed to terrorism.

Fifty-five percent of respondents said they would like to see the Democrats gain control of Congress, while 32 percent said they would prefer to have Republicans remain at the helm.

Bush"s popularity rating remains low, with only 35 percent of Americans approving of his performance and 57 percent disapproving, Newsweek said.

The October 19-20 poll of 1,000 people had a four-percentage-point margin of error.