CBS Poll: 25% Back Preemptive U.S. Nuke Strike

June 22, 2002

A surprisingly high percentage of Americans surveyed this week said they would support a preemptive nuclear strike on countries that harbor terrorists if President Bush decides it is justified to stop another attack on the United States, a CBS News poll released late Friday found.

While still a mere fraction of the population, a full 25 percent of respondents told CBS pollsters that the U.S. would be "justified in using a nuclear weapon first against another country" if that country is planning another terrorist attack against America.

And nearly three-quarters of those surveyed, 73 percent, said they "trust Bush to make the right decisions about the use of nuclear weapons," a CBSNews.com report on the poll said.

However, 65 percent said the U.S. would "not ever be justified in using a nuclear weapon first against another country."

Support for a non-nuclear first strike is much higher, with 83 percent saying the U.S. would be justified in doing so to stop another attack. Only 9 percent opposed a non-nuclear first strike.

When pollsters asked specifically about Iraq, a full 70 percent said they support a non-nuclear preemptive attack to remove Saddam Hussein from power, with only 20 percent opposed. CBS pollsters did not ask about a nuclear first strike against Iraq specifically.

The CBS News survey randomly interviewed 892 adults between June 18-20, 2002. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/6/21/190607.shtml