Tuesday, August 13, 2002

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll is based on telephone interviews with 1,023 randomly selected adults nationwide and was conducted August 7 - 11, 2002. The margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll. Interviewing was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

*= less than 0.5 percent

1. Would you favor or oppose having U.S. forces take military action against Iraq to force Saddam Hussein from power?

            ----------Favor----------   ----------Oppose----------    No 
            NET   Strongly   Somewhat   NET   Strongly   Somewhat    opin.
8/11/02     69       NA        NA        22      NA         NA         9
3/10/02     72       NA        NA        24      NA         NA         4
2/21/02     67       46        21        30      12         18         4
1/27/02     71       NA        NA        24      NA         NA         4
12/19/01    72       NA        NA        24      NA         NA         5
11/27/01    78       NA        NA        17      NA         NA         6
10/11/94*   72       NA        NA        23      NA         NA         5
1/15/93**   82       NA        NA        15      NA         NA         3 
8/21/92 RV  65       NA        NA        30      NA         NA         5 
2/9/92      62       NA        NA        35      NA         NA         3
4/22/91     51       NA        NA        43      NA         NA         6
4/5/91      54       NA        NA        37      NA         NA         9
3/15/91     57       NA        NA        38      NA         NA         5
*10/11/94 and previous: Gallup
**1/15/93 and previous: Would you support or oppose having U.S. forces 
resume military action...? 

2. (IF FAVOR) What if U.S. allies opposed such military action - in that case would you favor or oppose having U.S. forces take military action against Iraq?

           Favor     Oppose     No opin. 
8/11/02      80        17           4
3/10/02      77        21           3

1/2. Would you favor or oppose having U.S. forces take military action against Iraq to force Saddam Hussein from power? (IF FAVOR) What if U.S. allies opposed such military action - in that case would you favor or oppose having U.S. forces take military action against Iraq?

            ----------------FAVOR------------------
                    --------If allies oppose-------
            NET     Favor    Oppose     No op./Ref.     Oppose     No opin. 
8/11/02     69        54       11            3            22          9
3/10/02     72        55       15            2            24          4

3. Would you support or oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq with ground troops?

             8/11         2/18/98
Support       57%           38%
Oppose        36            56 
No opinion     8             6

4. (IF SUPPORT) What if that caused a significant number of U.S. military casualties -- in that case would you support or oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq with ground troops?

Support     70%
Oppose      26
No opinion   4

3/4. Would you support or oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq with ground troops? What if that caused a significant number of U.S. military casualties -- in that case would you support or oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq with ground troops?

Support                  57%
  Support if casualties  40
  Oppose if casualties   15
  No opinion              2
Oppose                   36
No opinion                8

5. Do you think Iraq does or does not pose a threat to the United States?

Does pose a threat   79%
Does not             16
No opinion            5

6. Do you think George W. Bush has a clear policy on Iraq, or not?

Yes         45%
No          42
No opinion  14

COMPARE TO: Do you think Clinton has a clear policy on Iraq, or not?

           Yes    No    No opinion
2/18/98     58    35         7

7. If Bush decides to go to war with Iraq, do you think he should get authorization from Congress before launching an attack, or not?

Yes         75%
No          21
No opinion   4

COMPARE TO: If Bush decided to go to war with Iraq do you think he should ask permission from Congress before launching an attack, or not?

                                                -----11/4/90-----             
                                                         Likely                
                                                        Dem  Rep              
               1/6/91       12/2/90  11/15/90   GenPop   Voters               
Yes              66           78        76        69     79   58               
No               31           21        20        30     21   40               
DK/No opinion     3            1         4         1      *    2 

8. If Bush and the Congress disagree on attacking Iraq, who should have the final decision - Bush or the Congress?

Bush            37%
Congress        59
No opinion       4

7/8. If Bush decides to go to war with Iraq, do you think he should get authorization from Congress before launching an attack, or not? If Bush and the Congress disagree on attacking Iraq, who should have the final decision - Bush or the Congress?

Bush get authorization      75%
  If disagree, Bush         27
  If disagree, Congress     44
No opinion                   4
No, Bush doesn't need       21
No opinion                   4