WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans would back U.S. military action against Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons but concern was growing over U.S. troop casualties in Iraq (news - web sites), said an opinion poll released on Tuesday.
The Washington Post/ABC poll found 56 percent of respondents endorsed the use of the U.S. military to block Iran from developing nuclear weapons while 38 percent opposed it.
The United States has accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, supporting "terrorist" organizations and of meddling in the affairs of neighboring Iraq where U.S. troops toppled the government of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in April.
The poll found growing concern over the number of casualties among U.S. forces in Iraq. Since the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 46 U.S. troops have been killed in hostile circumstances there. Since President Bush (news - web sites) declared major combat over on May 1, the death toll stands at 19 killed in combat.
About half of the 1,024 people surveyed said the current level of U.S. forces killed was "acceptable," down from two-thirds with the same view in early April.
Overall support for the war in Iraq was still strong but the Post said it might be ebbing slightly. Two in three people said they approved of the way Bush was dealing with Iraq but this was down from 75 percent in late April.
About 64 percent said the benefits of the war outweighed its cost, a drop from 70 percent in a survey late April.
The poll found seven in 10 people were concerned the United States would become involved in a long and costly peacekeeping mission in Iraq.
In addition, about one in four respondents incorrectly believed Iraq had used chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces during the conflict.
More than six in 10 people said the decision to go to war in Iraq was justified even if the United States did not find weapons of mass destruction, the reason cited by the Bush administration for going to war in the first place.
The margin of error was plus or minus three percentage points for the poll and interviews were conducted June 18-22.