Public support for Anglo-American military action against Afghanistan has fallen, according to a new opinion poll.
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Anti-war poster from the
indymedia.orgwebsite
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The Guardian
/ICM poll finds support down by 12 points in the past fortnight, from 74 per cent to 62 per cent.
With the waning support in mind, the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair made a speech to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff appealing to the public to "never forget" the images of the airliner attacks on the US and the human misery which accompanied them.
"It is important that we never forget why we are doing this; never forget how we felt watching the planes fly into the Trade towers; never forget those answerphone messages; never forget how we felt imagining how mothers told children they were about to die," he said.
"Never forget the guts of the firefighters and police who died trying to save others; never forget the gloating menace of Osama bin Laden in his propaganda videos, never forget that long list of countries who lost sons and daughters, never forget they were of all faiths and none, many Muslims."
This morning's poll shows strong backing for the use of British troops on the ground in Afghanistan, with 57 per cent of the public approving of their use, and 29 per cent disapproving.
Among those asked, only 51 per cent of women and 54 per cent of over-65s support military action, down from 68 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.
But feeling among men is still strong, with support running at 74 per cent (down from 80 per cent).
However, the poll finds that 54 per cent of those questioned would back a pause in the bombing campaign to allow aid convoys to reach the needy in Afghanistan.
Only 29 per cent say they would disagree with a pause.
For the poll, ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,000 adults from across the country by telephone, between October 26 and 28.
PA