Poll: Even Doves Back Iraq Action Friday, January 31, 2003 By Dana Blanton While only slightly more Americans describe themselves as "hawks" than as "doves" when it comes to military matters, by more than three-to-one the public supports military action to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power. According to the latest FOX News poll, conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation, two-thirds of Americans (67 percent) support U.S. military action against Iraq -- the same level of support as before the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. Among "hawks," that support climbs to 83 percent, and even among "doves" a majority still supports ousting Saddam (52 percent). When asked to describe themselves on military matters, 38 percent say they are a hawk, 31 percent say dove, and 16 percent say it depends. President Bush is seen as a hawk by 67 percent and as a dove by only 9 percent of the public. Overall, fully 87 percent of Americans believe Iraq is deceiving inspectors by hiding chemical and biological or other weapons of mass destruction, and almost as many (81 percent) believe Saddam has ties to the Al Qaeda terrorist group. Even so, almost as many people think the burden to prove Iraq's compliance (or lack thereof) with the United Nations Resolution 1441 lies with Bush as with Saddam. Almost 4 in 10 (38 percent) think it is up to President Bush to prove Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction, while 37 percent think Iraq needs to prove it has disarmed and 17 percent think both sides need to provide proof. In many areas, President Bush enjoys fairly strong levels of confidence from the public. The poll, taken in the days following the president's speech, shows that 67 percent of Americans say they are confident the president will make the right decision about the use of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, with 40 percent saying "very" confident. In addition, strong majorities rate Bush's leadership skills and "judgment in a crisis" positively, and his overall job approval rating remains a respectable 59 percent. This poll marks the first time the president's job rating has been below 60 percent since before the September 2001 terrorist attacks. There is the sense by some (40 percent), that the president is spending too much time on the war against terrorism and not enough time on domestic issues. Bush's job approval rating on the issue of terrorism is 72 percent, a full 30 percentage points higher than on the nation's economy. In fact, for the first time in his presidency, more people disapprove (48 percent) of Bush's job performance on the economy than approve (42 percent). "President Bush is in much the same position his father was," comments Opinion Dynamics President John Gorman. "On the one hand, people have tremendous confidence in him as war leader -- even if they have somewhat mixed feelings about the war. But, if he gets the war over with, people will focus right back on the economy, where his ratings are now negative. Of course, if he doesn't get the war over with quickly, they could also turn against him on that." The president's job performance on these issues may be lopsided, but the level of concern is much closer. Those saying they are very concerned about the nation's economy stands at 66 percent and, similarly, 70 percent say they are very concerned about war with Iraq. Plurality Felt Better After Bush Speech By a more than two-to-one margin, Americans who say they watched President Bush's address to the nation on Tuesday night say they felt better (41 percent) about the state of the union after the speech (16 percent felt worse and 36 percent say they felt the same). Almost three-quarters of speech watchers rate the content of the president's State of the Union address positively (30 percent saying "excellent"), according to the latest FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll. In addition, 74 percent give Bush's positive marks for his sincerity as he delivered his remarks (45 percent "excellent). Overall, 64 percent of Americans say they watched at least part of Bush's speech. There is little difference in the level of support for military action against Iraq between speech watchers and those who didn't watch, but the level of confidence in Bush's use of troops is much stronger among those who watched. Forty-five percent of speech watchers say they are "very" confident in Bush's deciding when to use the military in Iraq compared to 29 percent of non-viewers. Polling was conducted by telephone January 29-30, 2003 in the evenings. The sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ± 3 percentage points. Results are of registered voters, unless otherwise noted. LV = likely voters For the full article, with questions and answers: http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77202,00.html It would appear that the American public is not as dead-set against the coming war as some here would have us believe. Can we proceed now, Major?
I don't think that many people were or are dead set against war. They just wanted or want to see evidence that war is necessary.
It would appear that the American public is not as dead-set against the coming war as some here would have us believe. Can we proceed now, Major? What's new about this? I posted a poll with this basic information a while back. America doesn't have a problem with invading Iraq at all, but the support drops dramatically when its not a UN-mandated action built around a coalition. As far as my concerns go, I don't see anywhere that this poll references European support or third-world support? <I>Which comes closer to your view – [ROTATED: the United States should invade Iraq when the Bush administration decides that it is time to do so, (or) the United States should not invade Iraq unless there is a new United Nations vote authorizing military action]? Bush: 39% UN vote: 56% ... Which comes closer to your view – [ROTATED: the United States should invade Iraq when the Bush administration decides that it is time to do so, (or) the United States should not invade Iraq unless European allies like France and Germany have given their support]? Bush: 39% Allies: 57% </I> Even your article states that the "proof" issue is divisive: Even so, almost as many people think the burden to prove Iraq's compliance (or lack thereof) with the United Nations Resolution 1441 lies with Bush as with Saddam. Almost 4 in 10 (38 percent) think it is up to President Bush to prove Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction, while 37 percent think Iraq needs to prove it has disarmed and 17 percent think both sides need to provide proof.
RM95, <b>I don't think that many people were or are dead set against war. They just wanted or want to see evidence that war is necessary.</b> Here's an Iraqi who just wants his country to be liberated: <a href="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/outlook/1759872">Hear the Iraqi people's case for a liberating war</a>
Here's an Iraqi who just wants his country to be liberated: Hear the Iraqi people's case for a liberating war This is relevent exactly how? I'm sure you could find an account of a North Korean or Cuban or Chinese citizen who wants to be liberated too. Does that make war with those countries a necessity? This war is about WMD and protecting the U.S. - nothing more, no matter how its spun. Liberating Iraqi's is certainly a nice side-effect, but if that was the rationale, we would have been mobilizing for war before 9/11.
It's relevant. It's relevant in many ways. Like you said, "liberating Iraqis is nice." It wasn't an account of an Iraqi citizen who wants to be liberated. It was an article written by an Iraqi-American Doctor who lives in Houston and is a member of the advisory board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq and a founding member of the Iraqi National Congress. If the Saddam regime was nice to its' citizens and championed human rights and justice for all, I would definitely be AGAINST any action. But for me, it's the human rights abuses, death squads, torture, rape, oppression and starvation of citizens that do the convincing. WMD or not.
