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American Morning

Gallup Poll: Most American Support Military Action

Aired November 08, 2001 - 10:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We have heard the president long caution the U.S public to be patient. Yesterday, again, he reminded Americans that this was not, in his words, "a Kodak moment." But the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll numbers indicate the patience is still high.

Frank Newport now, live in Princeton, New Jersey.

Hey Frank, good morning.

FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR IN CHIEF: Good morning, Bill.

Indeed, you're right. As we know, between 85 and 90 percent of Americans in general support military action. That's been remarkably consistent since September 11. The issue of how long Americans are willing to continue to support military action, well, looks like a long time. It depends partly on how we ask the question.

But this past weekend we said: How long should combat forces by used to fight terrorism? You know, about 6 percent say stop now. But look over here on the right-hand side, Bill, 56 percent -- a majority of Americans -- look at that, say they would be willing to wait at least five years or more if that's what it took to continue fighting terrorism. That's the kind of thing we find on other questions as well -- generally, this kind of long-term support.

Now, that doesn't mean that Americans think currently things are going swimmingly. We asked the question: How would you rate the effectiveness of the U.S. military action so far? And you can see the vast majority, again on the right-hand side, there, of Americans, Bill, say it's too soon to tell. And that's partially, probably, why Americans are willing to put up with this long-term effort. They realize, before success is achieved, it may be years, if not months, Bill.

HEMMER: Frank, you also giving a sense -- or getting a sense, rather, from Americans about what they believe needs to be accomplished in the long-term here?

NEWPORT: Yes. We've asked several questions about that -- capturing Osama bin Laden, you know, getting the Taliban out of power. We did ask more generally: Do you have a good feel for what the U.S. is fighting for? Interestingly, Gallup asked that question, Bill, way back in World War II, and it was 73 percent who said yes there. The numbers were lower in Vietnam. That's not surprising, given what we know about history. Higher in the Gulf War.

But look at the right-hand side: Almost nine out of 10 Americans say they have a definite, clear understanding of why the U.S. is involved in military action. That's higher than any other war that Gallup has asked that question about in our history, Bill. So Americans clearly onboard in terms of the objectives of the military action.

HEMMER: What about ground troops, Frank? Are you getting a sense there?

NEWPORT: Yes; partially, Bill, it depends on how the question is phrased. Eighty percent support ground troops in general. If you really get draconian and say they'll be there, there will be many casualties, the numbers come down.

This is our last question in our CNN poll last weekend: a large number of ground troops in combat is how we phrased it, Bill. And even then, two thirds of American say yes, they support the idea of large numbers involved in the action, Bill.

HEMMER: Frank Newport, thanks much, in Princeton, New Jersey.

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