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Support for war and Bush grows in US

Americans favor going to war even if that means thousands of casualties for the nation's armed forces, yet they say that the US should wait to act until it is certain who is responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows.

The survey painted a portrait of a nation that is unsettled about the terrorist attacks -- and is expecting more of them -- at the same time it is also worried about the state of the economy.

For the first time since 1990, a majority of Americans say the economy is worsening. Six in 10 say the nation is in a recession and two in 10 say the nation is near one.

President George W. Bush's ratings continue to soar, as is common for presidents in times of crisis, with people giving him impressive marks for his leadership and judgment under pressure. Eighty-nine percent approve of the way he is doing his job, up from 50 percent in late August.

Yet there are suggestions in the poll that Bush is buoyed significantly by the respondents' high regard for his advisers. Asked whether they had more confidence in Bush or his advisers, 70 percent said they had equal confidence in both.

But of those who chose one or the other, 22 percent expressed greater confidence in Bush's advisers, and only 5 percent said they had more confidence in the president himself.

Clearly, Americans' way of life has been altered. Despite security measures the government has taken, about one in three people say the attacks have made them less likely to travel by airplane any time soon. Eight in 10 say Americans will have to forfeit some of their personal freedoms to make the country safer, an increase even from a week ago.

And more than seven out of 10 Americans now consider themselves very patriotic, a substantial rise since the question was last asked a decade ago.
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