US poll supports Carter's handling of hostage crisis

By a 52-35 percent majority Americans believe that getting the 52 American hostages out of Iran alive is more important than preserving the national honor, says pollster Louis Harris. He says the latest ABC News-Harris Survey of 1,200 adults also shows President Carter gets high marks for his handling of the crisis. Mr. Harris said a 70-27 percent majority agreed that "by being so patient, President Carter has kept alive the chance that some day the hostages will be returned unharmed," and by an even wider margins, those surveyed approved the economic sanctions against Iran. But by a 59-40 percent margin, they said that in retrospect, the US should have given Iran an ultimatum right after the hostages were seized that they be freed or the US would take "direct military action."