US DIVIDED ON PERSIAN GULF WAR, POLLS SHOW

Two polls published Jan. 15 show the American population divided on whether to start a war against Iraq after the UN deadline calling for Baghdad to withdraw its forces. But in a third poll, a majority of Americans favored an attack against Iraq within a month.

A CBS News/New York Times poll found that 47 percent of Americans favored military action compared with 46 percent who supported continued reliance on sanctions alone. Forty-two percent expected war to last several months while 21 percent said a year or more.

USA Today found that 48 percent of 600 people surveyed in a nationwide phone poll favored immediate attack against Iraq.

But a poll by the ABC television network and the Washington Post found that 69 percent favored an attack against Iraq, with 58 percent in favor of an attack within a month. The poll showed 26 percent opposed to any attack.