Most Americans are satisfied with U.S. and British efforts to restore civil order in Iraq, and they now rank humanitarian needs as the top priority there — more important than searching for Saddam Hussein or banned weapons — according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The public mood on the Iraqi invasion remains buoyant, the survey found. Roughly 8 in 10 backed the war effort, and more than 6 in 10 said the United States is doing its best to restore order after the collapse of Hussein's government. President Bush's job approval rating remains high, at 74 percent.
Americans increasingly think the military action in Iraq has made them safer at home. Fifty-eight percent said the war will decrease the risk of terrorism, up 10 percentage points from the days before the invasion of Iraq began on March 20.
Meanwhile, a majority says North Korea poses a real threat to the United States, and Syria at least a minor one.
More than half those polled (55 percent) say Kim Jong Il's government, with its revived nuclear weapons program, is a "serious threat," and another 24 percent consider North Korea as a minor threat. Combined, the proportion is similar to the opinions on Iraq in the weeks preceding the invasion.
The poll suggests there is no public rush for a new war, however. Twice as many respondents said they would support diplomatic or economic measures to pressure North Korea (88 percent) as those who said they would back the use of military force (43 percent). One-third supported outright war with North Korea."From what I have read and seen, I think North Korea is probably a threat to us," said Claire L., 52, a nurse in Massachusetts and poll respondent who declined to give her last name. "I would feel comfortable with diplomacy first to try to see what we can get, and not strong-arming them. I think people are more receptive to a give-and-take."
Significantly fewer (36 percent) said Syria is a serious threat, although another 3 in 10 had at least some concern about the nation that the Bush administration has criticized lately. As with North Korea, a majority of Americans oppose going to war there.
Regarding Iraq, most polled say U.S. and British forces have made reasonable efforts to keep control.
"I feel the rioting was inevitable," said Emily Jaskulski, 56, an office manager in South Bound Brook, N.J. "For all those years the people there had nothing." Referring to the palaces owned by Hussein and his sons, she said, the Iraqi people "had nothing; he had everything."
"At this point, I feel we should help them get water, medical aid, food and, of course, get some control with the rioting," Jaskulski said. "And basically get out of there as soon as we can."
Mary Lewis, 47, a preschool teacher in Chesterfield, Mo., is among those who feel the Iraq invasion will make America safer from terrorism.
It sent "a very clear message that we're highly capable of defending the freedoms of not only this country but the freedoms of other democracies and peace-loving people," Lewis said. "But it's got to send a signal to other terrorist organizations plotting things that they may not be able to pull things off as easily as they did on September 11 because our intelligence has raised the bar."
A darker undercurrent of American opinion is the growing majority of those who say they are at least somewhat concerned about becoming bogged down in a peacekeeping mission in Iraq. Seventy-three percent expressed this view, compared with 62 percent last week.
"Yeah, I want to fix things, but I want our American people to come home," said Renee Jones, 26, a retail manager in Stockton, Calif. "It's good that we might have had war to stop certain things, but it's not good if it's going to hurt us financially in the long run."
Six in 10 agreed that it is "absolutely essential" to provide humanitarian aid to Iraqis. "To pull out now would be like coming up short on your investment," said Dean Scott, 35, an insurance adjustor in Charlotte.
Four in 10 said it is essential to capture or kill Hussein, and fewer said it was essential for the United States to play a role in rebuilding Iraq's shattered infrastructure.
A total of 504 randomly selected adults nationwide was interviewed Wednesday night. The margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 5 percentage points.
Americans remain divided on how big a role the United Nations should play in postwar Iraq. About half said the United Nations should be in charge of a range of tasks there. But in each case, roughly 4 in 10 said the United States should take the lead role.
"I would think that the United Nations should have more of a say," said Tim Rolando, 25, a lodging supervisor in Newport, R.I. "If more countries were doing it together, it wouldn't look like we just barged into a country and made it our own."
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