Thursday, July 15, 2010

[ For poll table:
www.tipponline.com/images/stories/IBD/p07142010.png ]

56 percent of Americans support an Israeli strike to prevent Iran from
building nuclear weapons, according to a poll conducted by a U.S. research
firm.
By Shlomo Shamir and Haaretz Service Published 00:48 16.07.10
www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/poll-most-americans-back-israeli-military-action-against-iran-1.302222

More than half of Americans support Israeli military action against Iran,
according to a poll released on Wednesday.

The poll was conducted by TIPP, the polling unit of TechnoMetrica Market
Intelligence, a U.S. research firm of both syndicated and custom Market
Research solutions.

According to the poll, 43 percent of U.S. Democrats approve of Israel taking
military action against Iran to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons,
while 40 percent disapprove. However, when Republicans were asked the same
question, 74 percent voiced approval while 17 percent disapproved. Among
independents, 56 percent approved of military action while 30% disapproved.

Overall, 56 percent of Americans approved a military strike, while 30
percent disapproved, according to the poll.

Meanwhile, the NewsMax website reported on Thursday that a separate Pew
Research poll showed similar results, with 66 percent of Americans preferred
a strike, while 24% objected to it. According to the Pew Research poll,
which included 22 countries last month, a majority in 16 of the states
preferred a military strike over tolerating a nuclear Iran.

Last week, The Washington Post reported that U.S. Senator John McCain said
that he did not believe Israel was considering military action against Iran
over its contentious nuclear program.

"I don't believe we are at the point of making that kind of decision, nor
is the Israeli government, given the state that Iran is in now as far as the
development of their nuclear weapons is concerned," McCain told reporters
after talks with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and
Defense Minister Ehud Barak.