Misleading headline on Iran strike

Scanning my Reuters politics news headlines on Yahoo, I see that:

French, Americans would back strike on Iran: poll

Really?

One would assume that this means Americans and the French, when polled, felt that a military strike right now on Iran was a good idea.  I was a little dismayed about that, until I got into the details...

In the second half of the article, after a discussion of public support for Bush in Europe, you'll find that:

On Iran, 96 percent of Americans and 85 percent of Europeans see the possibility of Tehran becoming a nuclear power as a very important or somewhat important threat.

Asked the best way to avert the risk, 45 percent in Europe and 28 percent of Americans favored incentives while 36 percent of Americans and 28 percent of Europeans backed sanctions.

Only a handful in either the United States or Europe cited supporting opposition groups, while 15 percent of Americans and 6 percent of Europeans see military action as the best way.

So, 15% think that military action is the best way.  An overwhelming majority in both the US and Europe felt that incentives or sanctions were the best way.  So where did the "French, Americans would back strike on Iran" claim come from?

However, when asked what should happen if non-military measures failed to stop Tehran acquiring atomic weapons, 53 percent of Americans and 43 percent of Europeans supported taking military action rather than accepting a nuclear Iran.

In France, the figure was 54 percent. In Germany, 40 percent supported military action but 46 percent said it would be better to let Iran acquire nuclear arms.

A majority supporting a strike as a last resort is not a majority backing a strike on Iran.  That's a majority saying that they think a strike is acceptable if all other methods fail.  I have to wonder what the numbers would be if they had thrown in opinions from military sources who think a strike would accomplish nothing, as Seymour Hersh detailed in his article a few months ago:

The Pentagon adviser questioned the value of air strikes. "The Iranians have distributed their nuclear activity very well, and we have no clue where some of the key stuff is. It could even be out of the country," he said. He warned, as did many others, that bombing Iran could provoke "a chain reaction" of attacks on American facilities and citizens throughout the world: "What will 1.2 billion Muslims think the day we attack Iran?"

A much more accurate depiction of the poll would have been "Tiny minority favor an immediate strike on Iran" or if you prefer, "If diplomacy fails, Iran strike acceptable: poll."

Democrats and consultants, remember: most people don't actually think going to war is the right thing to do, unless we've truly exhausted all other options.  That's why Bush constantly calls a strike a last resort, even though it isn't really a last resort for him... he needs people to think it is so they'll go along with it.  Don't let him get away with it, and don't let the media help create the false impression that it's a popular idea.