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US Public Support For
War On Iraq Fading

11-5-2

SILICON VALLEY (PTI) -- Public support for military action against Iraq is waning, with just over half of Americans supporting use of force to oust Saddam Hussein from power, two recent polls indicate.
 
A poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press from Oct 17 to Oct 27 found that 55 per cent of Americans support an attack on Iraq, down from 62 per cent earlier in the month and 64 per cent in August.
 
The poll found that a large percentage of Americans are concerned about possible consequences of an attack, including the deployment of chemical or biological weapons against US forces, heavy military casualties and increased terrorist attacks on America.
 
Opposition to war against Iraq has been slowly growing with 34 per cent (one-in-three Americans) now opposing military action, up from 28 per cent earlier in October and 21 per cent in late August.
 
Another poll by Fox News found that support for a military campaign had declined from 72 per cent to 62 per cent in recent weeks.
 
Commenting on the growing public opposition, Pew Research Centre Director, Andrew Kohut, said "may be it takes a while for people to think through some of their concerns and there are many concerns as expressed in these polls."
 
"Indeed we found close to 60 per cent saying they were worried that Saddam Hussein might use biological and chemical weapons against US forces, 53 per cent saying that chances of domestic terrorism would increase," he told the National Public Radio.
 
The survey found that Americans today are much more worried about the possibility that war with Iraq might lead to increased terrorism in the US than was the case in 1991 when this question was first asked some 11 years ago.
 
Fifty-one per cent of the survey respondents were worried about increase in domestic terrorism, compared with 33 per cent in January 1991 after the Gulf War began.
 
"The percentage of people who say that we should do it even if we don't have ally support is only 27 per cent in this survey. So that is the hurdle that President Bush still has to jump," Kohut said.
 
In September, 33 per cent of those survey said they would favour military action against Baghdad if the allies did not go along.
 
The latest nationwide Pew Research Centre survey of 1,751 also found that, with midterm elections on Tuesday, the prospect of war with Iraq and other major national issues are not affecting voters' views of the two parties.
 
Republicans continue to be seen as better able to handle Iraq and terrorism, while Democrats hold the advantage on Social Security.
 
Perhaps most important, neither party has a significant edge on the economy, the issue that voters most want to hear discussed in their state and local races.
 
 
Copyright © 2002 Press Trust of India Ltd. All rights reserved.





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