Although Americans were overwhelmingly convinced by the case Secretary of State Colin L. Powell made against Saddam Hussein in his speech to the United Nations, they remain wary of war against Iraq without clear-cut U.N. backing, according to a new Los Angeles Times Poll.
The survey, conducted among people interviewed a week earlier and contacted again Friday and Saturday, found a slight increase in support for unilateral military action and an uptick in President Bush's approval rating. Support for the president's handling of Iraq also increased.
But there remains a deep desire to avoid war, even if it means prolonging the U.N. inspection process for weeks or even months.
"I found it very convincing, yes," Nancy Moody, 62, who owns an industrial gas business in western Pennsylvania, said of Powell's presentation Wednesday. "But I don't see what's the rush. Our economy is in the toilet and state budgets are way out of whack. I don't want to go to war unless it's absolutely the last possible option."
Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said they would back a war effort endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. That support dropped to 55% when respondents were asked whether they would support a military action with some allied backing, but without U.N. concurrence.
The poll also found Americans to be on guard after the federal government last week raised its terrorism threat level to "high risk" and warned of growing concern about an attack during the ongoing Muslim holy days. But nearly nine in 10 of those surveyed said they have no intention of changing their behavior because of the elevated alert.
"If I change the way I live ... then I feel the terrorists are winning," said Lynn Chase, 49, who lives about 90 miles north of New York City in rural Sparrow Bush, N.Y. "And I'm stubborn enough not to let them affect my life."
Powell -- whose job approval rating surpasses that of Bush -- presented a detailed case against Iraq before the U.N. Security Council. Employing satellite photographs and secretly recorded conversations, Powell told the U.N. that Hussein is thwarting weapons inspectors, hiding weapons of mass destruction and harboring Al Qaeda-linked terrorists.
