Poll: Minnesotans back Iraq war

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The majority of Minnesotans support the war in Iraq, President Bush's handling of it and U.S. troops staying in the Middle East until Iraq becomes a democracy, according to a new poll.

They support those ideas by wide margins, according to the latest Minnesota Poll by the Star Tribune. They also think the war will last several months and will hurt the nation's international standing.

But despite that, a 58 percent to 34 percent majority believes that when all the lost lives and other costs are known, the war will have been worth it.

Public opinion is following a pattern familiar from past wars, said University of Minnesota political scientist Larry Jacobs.

"It's a classic case of support the troops once they are in harm's way, rally round the flag and round the president in time of war," he said. "Support for the war is quite a bit higher than it was 10 days ago, before the first bombs fell."

Pollsters interviewed a random sample of 831 adults by telephone statewide over two days starting March 25. The margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.