WAR IS OPTIONAL, FRANCOPHOBIA OBLIGATORY:

French stance tilts voters towards war (David Smith and Nick Speed, March 16, 2003, The Sunday Times)

FRANCE'S opposition to war with Iraq under any circumstances appears to have contributed to a shift in public opinion in Britain in favour of military action.

A YouGov poll of 2,260 people, conducted for Showdown in Iraq: a Jonathan Dimbleby Special on ITV1 today, shows that people in Britain have little time for the tactics of Jacques Chirac. Only 22% think the French president was right to say he would block any UN Security Council resolution that threatened military action; 70% believe he was wrong.

The result is that voters in Britain continue to oppose a war with Iraq that does not have UN backing ‹ but opposition is softening. The poll shows that 60% of Britons are opposed to war without a second security council resolution, while 32% are in favour.

Although a significant majority is still against war, the position has shifted. In late January only 20% favoured war without a second resolution, while 73% were opposed.

A similar shift has occurred when it comes to war with a second resolution, even though that is now seen as unlikely: 76% now support military action with UN backing, the highest since the question was first asked in September.

The poll appears to suggest that people are increasingly resigned to war. Fewer than a third, 29%, think UN inspectors should be given a few more months to uncover Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Nearly two-thirds, 65%, say inspections are not working and Saddam should be given a shorter deadline, backed by the threat of force.

If the Tories still had a pulse, they'd run as the anti-EU, but specifically anti-French/anti-German, party. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 16, 2003 6:54 AM