Thirty-seven percent of respondents said the US-led military campaign has placed their country in greater danger, according to the USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, and nine percent said the war did not change the terrorist threat.

The United States raised the level of alert against terrorist attacks to its second-highest level more than three weeks ago.

Two-thirds of the 522 people surveyed were loath to see the United States go to war now against nations Washington has accused of supporting terrorism, such as Iran, North Korea and Syria.

US officials -- including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz -- have been openly critical of Syria in particular, accusing its leaders of shipping military equipment to the Iraqi Army and providing refuge for top Iraqi officials.

Three-quarters of respondents said it was important for the United States to re-establish good relations with France, Germany and other Western countries opposed to the US-led war to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The poll, which carries a five-percentage-point margin of error, also showed that Americans' support for their president is unflagging. Some 72 percent continue to stand behind George W. Bush's decision to launch the war on Iraq.

Support for Bush was as high as 77 percent, according to another poll released by The Washington Post on Thursday.

SPACE.WIRE