Poll finds support of military action in Iraq growing
Two-thirds of Americans say they support using military force
against Iraq, says a new poll, even though most people think
taking that step will cause serious problems among other Arabs.
The Newsweek poll released Saturday suggests that President
Bush has bolstered support for that approach and for his own
performance in office with recent speeches about his plans in Iraq.
Bush's job approval was at 70%, up from 61% in late August in
this poll.
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The poll showed that three-fourths support organizing an
international force to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
from power or sending in commandos or special forces to capture
Saddam or work with local forces that oppose him. Almost that
many support using airstrikes against Iraq without ground forces.
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People now support by a 55-37 margin sending in large numbers
of U.S. ground troops to ensure control of the country. They were
evenly divided on that in late August.
By a 2-1 margin, people said it was important for Bush to have the
approval of Congress, formal support from the United Nations and
support from most of the United States' European allies. They also
said by a 2-1 margin that Bush has done a good job of explaining
U.S. policy toward Iraq.
Seven in 10 thought a U.S. attack on Iraq would cause serious
problems for this country throughout the Arab countries and
thought Iraq would retaliate by using biological or chemical
weapons against Israel and the United States.
The poll of 1,000 adults was taken Thursday and Friday, after
Bush's speech to the United Nations, and has an error margin of
plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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