Americans Cite Weapons, Liberating Iraqis as Good Reasons for War

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans to evaluate the reasons for and against military action in Iraq. Generally speaking, because more Americans favor military action, the reasons for going to war are rated more positively than the reasons against going to war. Preventing Iraq from using weapons of mass destruction and the liberation of the Iraqi people from the rule of Saddam Hussein are the most likely to be viewed as good reasons to go to war, while the loss of Iraqi and American lives are rated most often as good reasons to avoid war.

The poll was conducted March 14-15, just days prior to the United States' decision to abandon diplomatic efforts on Iraq and to order Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq by Wednesday night or face a U.S. invasion. The public evaluated seven reasons that some people say would justify war with Iraq, and nine reasons others use to argue against such a war.

Reasons to Favor Military Action

More than eight in 10 Americans, 85%, say preventing Iraq from using weapons of mass destruction or providing them to terrorists is a good reason to take military action, including 52% who say it is a very good reason. Roughly the same percentage, 84%, say freeing the Iraqi people from the rule of Saddam Hussein is a good reason. A majority of Americans rate all other arguments as good reasons to go to war, except for the idea that military action should be used to lower fuel prices in the United States in the long run. A majority, 56%, says this is a bad reason to pursue war with Iraq.

REASONS IN FAVOR OF TAKING MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAQ

2003 Mar 14-15 (sorted by "good reason")	Total good	Total bad
	%	%
Iraq prevented from using weapons of mass destruction/providing to terrorists	85	14
The Iraqi people would be freed from the rule of Saddam Hussein	84	15
U.S. must play a leadership role in world by standing up for what it believes is right	77	23
It would encourage political and economic reform in the Arab world	68	27
Oil supplies in the Middle East would be protected and stabilized	63	35
Groups that hate the U.S. would be discouraged from attacking the U.S.	57	40
Fuel prices in the U.S would be lower in the long run	42	56

Loss of Life Most Compelling Reason to Avoid Military Action

In contrast to the generally "good" ratings of arguments for military action, a majority of Americans evaluate only two of the nine arguments given for opposing military action positively. Fifty-seven percent say the deaths of innocent Iraqi citizens, and 50% say the deaths of American soldiers, are good reasons to oppose a war with Iraq. Americans are about evenly divided in their evaluations of whether giving U.N. weapons inspections more time to work is a good (48%) or bad reason (49%) to oppose military action.

The least compelling reason, according to the public, is that Saddam Hussein does not represent a real threat to the United States right now (67% say this is a bad reason to oppose military action). Americans also seem less concerned about what other countries would think about the United States -- 60% say more negative evaluations is a bad reason to oppose military action.

Nearly six in 10 Americans also say the risk of more terrorist attacks against the United States is a bad reason to oppose military action. While this result may seem surprising, the poll also revealed that half the public thinks not invading Iraq would present a greater risk of additional acts of terrorism, while 43% think invading Iraq presents the greater risk.

REASONS TO OPPOSE TAKING MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAQ

2003 Mar 14-15 (sorted by "good reason")	Total good	Total bad
	%	%
Many innocent Iraqi citizens would die	57	40
Many American soldiers would die	50	46
United Nations weapons inspections should be given more time to work	48	49
There are other problems that are more urgent than the situation in Iraq	45	54
Iraq would retaliate with weapons of mass destruction against invading U.S. troops	45	51
The problems with Iraq could be solved solely through U.N. weapons inspections	42	53
There would be new terrorist attacks against the U.S.	39	58
The rest of the world would view the U.S. much more negatively	37	60
Saddam Hussein does not represent a real threat to the U.S. right now	30	67

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,007 adults, 18 years and older, conducted March 14-15, 2003. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Now, here are some statements people have given as reasons to favor taking military action against Iraq. Regardless of how likely you think it might be to happen, for each, please say whether it is – a very good reason, a good reason, a bad reason, or a very bad reason for not taking military action against Iraq? How about that -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

BASED ON -- 488 -- NATIONAL ADULTS

A. The Iraqi people would be freed from the rule of Saddam Hussein

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	43%	41	13	2	1

B. Groups that hate the U.S. would be discouraged from attacking the U.S.

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	25%	32	27	13	3

C. Fuel prices in the U.S would be lower in the long run

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	21%	21	39	17	2

D. The U.S. must play a leadership role in the world by standing up for what it believes is the right course of action

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	37%	40	18	5	*

Now, here are some statements people have given as reasons to oppose military action against Iraq. Regardless of how likely you think it might be to happen, for each, please say whether it is – a very good reason, a good reason, a bad reason, or a very bad reason for not taking military action against Iraq? How about that -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

BASED ON -- 488 -- NATIONAL ADULTS

A. Many innocent Iraqi citizens would die

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	23%	34	29	11	3

B. Saddam Hussein does not represent a real threat to the U.S. right now

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	11%	19	33	34	3

C. The rest of the world would view the U.S. much more negatively

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	12%	25	44	16	3

D. There are other problems the U.S. is facing that are more urgent than the situation in Iraq

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	18%	27	40	14	1

E. United Nations weapons inspections should be given more time to work

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	17%	31	30	19	3

Now, here are some statements people have given as reasons to favor taking military action against Iraq. Regardless of how likely you think it might be to happen, for each, please say whether it is – a very good reason, a good reason, a bad reason, or a very bad reasonfor taking military action against Iraq? How about that -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

BASED ON -- 519 -- NATIONAL ADULTS

A. Iraq would be prevented from using weapons of mass destruction or providing them to terrorists

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	52%	33	11	3	1

B. It would encourage political and economic reform in the Arab world

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	18%	50	20	7	5

C. Oil supplies in the Middle East would be protected and stabilized

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	18%	45	25	10	2

Now, here are some statements people have given as reasons to oppose military action against Iraq. Regardless of how likely you think it might be to happen, for each, please say whether it is – a very good reason, a good reason, a bad reason, or a very bad reasonfor taking military action against Iraq? How about that -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

BASED ON -- 519 -- NATIONAL ADULTS

A. Iraq would retaliate with weapons of mass destruction against invading U.S. troops

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	18%	27	34	17	4

B. Many American soldiers would die

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	18%	32	35	11	4

C. There would be new terrorist attacks against the U.S.

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	15%	24	40	18	3

D. The problems with Iraq could be solved solely through U.N. weapons inspections

 

	Very good	Good	Bad	Very bad	No opinion
2003 Mar 14-15	12%	30	34	19	5

* -- Less than 0.5%