French public opinion has hardened against going to war on Iraq, according to a poll out on Monday.
By far the most common reason given for opposing the use of force was hostility to the United States’ role in the crisis. A U.N.-mandated intervention would win majority support, however.
Eighty-seven percent were against military action, up from 77 percent six weeks ago, the Ipsos agency found in a poll for France 2 television conducted on Saturday, a day when hundreds of thousands marched against war in France and around the world.
The number who said they were “totally opposed” to war leapt to 57 percent from 42 percent. Those “totally or rather” in favour of an attack fell to 11 percent from 16 percent.
However, if the U.N. Security Council voted to intervene in Iraq, only one in three of the more than 900 respondents felt France should play no part at all. Seventeen percent said French troops should fight and 47 percent said Paris should back a U.N.-sanctioned war without taking part directly in combat.
Offered a choice of three reasons to best explain why they opposed going to war, 76 percent of the anti-war camp said they “dislike they way the United States is behaving in the crisis”.
Check out Scrappleface’s take on the poll:
France has agreed to help attack and disarm Iraq, thanks to a personal apology from U.S. President George Bush which was sparked by results of a new poll.