Silicon Valley: Public support for military action against Iraq is waning, with just over half of Americans supporting use of force to oust Saddam Hussein from power, two recent polls indicate.

A poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press from October 17 to 27 found that 55 per cent of Americans support an attack on Iraq, down from 62 per cent earlier in the month and 64 per cent in August.

The poll found that a large percentage of Americans are concerned about possible consequences of an attack, including the deployment of chemical or biological weapons against US forces, heavy military casualties and increased terrorist attacks on America.

Opposition to war against Iraq has been slowly growing with 34 per cent (one-in- three Americans) now opposing military action, up from 28 per cent earlier in October and 21 per cent in late August.

Another poll by Fox News found that support for a military campaign had declined from 72 per cent to 62 per cent in recent weeks.

Commenting on the growing public opposition, Pew Research Centre director Andrew Kohut said, "May be it takes a while for people to think through some of their concerns and there are many concerns as expressed in these polls."

"Indeed we found close to 60 per cent saying they were worried that Saddam Hussein might use biological and chemical weapons against US forces, 53 per cent saying that chances of domestic terrorism would increase," he told the National Public Radio.

PTI