Powell “Bounce” Fades
Gallup News Service
Princeton, New Jersey – The latest Gallup Poll finds that overall public support for military action against Iraq has faded slightly from the recent high point registered shortly after Secretary of State Colin Powell’s speech to the U.N. Security Council on Feb. 5, but remains in solid majority territory at 59{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}.
However, Americans continue to want international cooperation for such action. Support for war without a new U.N. vote authorizing it is only 30{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d}, down 9 points from a poll conducted Feb. 7-9.
The poll also shows that Americans opposed to a war with Iraq are more intense in their beliefs than are those who favor military action. This results in a situation in which the number of Americans who feel intensely that war should be avoided is roughly equal to the number who are intensely in favor of war.