Public opinion shifts towards war hawks

[Jim heartfield]

In message <370AC572.C93E30EE at sprintmail.com>, Gar Lipow
<lipowg at sprintmail.com> writes
>Those who support NATO -- gleefully or reluctantly should be happy.
>According to the polls (for whatever they are worth) U.S. public
>opinion has shifted towards your side.  According to ABC/Washington
>Post poll 68% suppport the air strikes, and 55% percent support the
>use of ground troops. According to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll
>62% support air strikes; 55% percent support ground troops; 73%
>support ground troops as a "last resort".

The opinion shift that Gar reports is mirrored here in the UK too.
However, I would take it with a pinch of salt. I can't remember a war
where the public were so disengaged from the political process. Even the
Gulf War came after a considerable preparation of public opinion. This
one has just come out of the blue for most people. My guess would be
that the polls register an acquiescence to the official viewpoint, but
no active enthusiasm. British polls on war often ask the question 'would
you be willing to die for your country?'. This is one percentage that
just keeps on going down, no matter how jingoistic the press.

-- 
Jim heartfield