Poll Shows Most Want War Delay
By PATRICK E. TYLER and JANET ELDER
ven after the administration's aggressive case for going to war soon in Iraq, a majority of Americans favor giving United Nations weapons inspectors more time to complete their work so that any military operation wins the support of the Security Council, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows.
The public supports a war to remove Saddam Hussein. But Americans are split over whether the Bush administration and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell have made a convincing case for going to war right now, even though much of the public is inclined to believe that Iraq and Al Qaeda are connected in terrorism.
The poll found that while the economy still commands the greatest concern among Americans, the prospect of combat in Iraq, fear of terrorism and the North Korean nuclear standoff are stirring additional anxieties.
These worries may be taking a toll on Mr. Bush's support. His overall job approval rating is down to 54 percent from 64 percent just a month ago, the lowest level since the summer before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Three-quarters of Americans see war as inevitable, and two-thirds approve of war as an option. But many people continue to be deeply ambivalent about war if faced with the prospect of high casualties or a lengthy occupation of Iraq that further damages the American economy. Twenty-nine percent of respondents in the poll, which was conducted Monday through Wednesday, disapprove of taking military action against Iraq.
With major decisions of war and peace still pending, 59 percent of Americans said they believed the president should give the United Nations more time. Sixty-three percent said Washington should not act without the support of its allies, and 56 percent said Mr. Bush should wait for United Nations approval.
As concurrent crises converge on the White House, including a rancorous conflict within the NATO alliance over Iraq war planning, President Bush's job approval ratings have lost ground across the board. Fifty-three percent of Americans disapproved of the way he is handling the economy, and 44 percent disapproved of his overall management of foreign policy.
Though 53 percent of Americans said they approved of the way Mr. Bush is handling Iraq, only 47 percent approved of his foreign policy management over all.
Moreover, a year and a half after the Sept. 11 terrorist assault, only a third of Americans said they think the United States and its allies are winning the antiterror campaign, while 38 percent think that neither side is winning and 20 percent regard the terrorists as still having the upper hand. Only 49 percent of Americans think Mr. Bush has a coherent plan for dealing with terrorism.
If historic trends hold, a decision by Mr. Bush to go to war, even without United Nations backing, is likely to rally the country behind the president. Still, these poll results indicate that the reluctance many Americans feel about the costs of war represent a significant political risk for the Bush administration.
The nationwide telephone poll was conducted with 747 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.
Americans, overwhelmingly, continue to take the threat of terrorist attacks very seriously, with 80 percent saying that another attack is either "very" or "somewhat" likely within the next few months. And the number of Americans paying closer attention to news media reports about the prospect of war has increased to 71 percent from 43 percent since September.
Still, while there is a high degree of awareness, substantial conflict and confusion exist among the public about Iraq and the antiterror campaign, so much so that 42 percent of those polled said they believed Saddam Hussein was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. Neither the Bush administration nor any other authority has alleged such involvement.
More than anything, Americans remained concerned about the threat of Qaeda terrorism far more than any threat from Iraq, though concern about the threat from Baghdad has gained some ground. |
