Interesting War Polling Data

[redman]

From MSNBC.com:

Poll: 65 percent back Iraq war

NBC NEWS

March 18 — Sixty-five percent of Americans believe the United States should take military action against Iraq, but a majority also believes a war will increase the threat of terrorism inside the United States, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday. The level of support for war was the highest in seven NBC/Wall Street Journal surveys conducted over the past year.

THE 65 PERCENT supporting action against Iraq compares with a previous high of 60 percent last month and in October 2002.

Thirty percent were opposed to action in the latest survey, conducted Monday after President Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq. That’s about average for the series of polls taken since April 2002, but the percentage of those “not sure” hit a low of 5 percent.

Tim Russert, NBC’s Washington bureau chief and host of “Meet the Press,” said the Bush administration believes support could reach 70 percent after the president addresses the nation in the event of war.

Among Republicans polled, 88 percent back war, Russert noted, but more surprisingly a majority of Democrats — 49 percent to 43 percent — also support the president’s strategy.

[Kilmer17]

FoxNews has it at 74 percent.

[redman]

Three of four Americans support war: poll

Fri Mar 21,10:30 AM ET Add U.S. National - AFP to My Yahoo!

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The number of Americans supporting the war against Iraq (news - web sites) has surged, with three out of four saying they approve the decision to attack, even though it did not have explicit UN backing, according to a poll out Friday.

The Gallup/USA Today poll showed that 76 percent of Americans supported US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s decision to launch the war Wednesday.

Only 15 percent of the 602 people interviewed Thursday said they strongly disapproved, and five percent disapproved but not strongly.

In early February, just 34 percent approved of launching the war without UN backing. That figure rose to 47 percent last weekend.

Support jumped to 66 percent following Monday's speech in which Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) 48 hours to seek exile or face war.

About one third of respondents, 34 percent, believe the war will last one to three months. Twenty-seven percent expect it to last less than a month, 13 percent see it lasting four to eight months, and eight percent believe the war will go on for more than a year.

Just over half -- 52 percent -- believe the war will be a success if Saddam is removed, regardless of whether he is killed or captured, while 43 percent consider that victory depends on killing him.

The poll has a four percentage point margin of error.