Poll: Britons See Bush as Bigger Threat Than Saddam Tue Mar 11, 9:31 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - The British public sees President Bush (news - web sites) as a greater threat to world peace than Iraq (news - web sites)'s Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), a poll published on Tuesday showed.
It also believes that as long as United Nations (news - web sites) weapons inspectors can do a useful job in Iraq, it would be wrong for the United States and Britain to attack. However, Britons say something has to be done about Saddam and suspect he is determined to hide his weapons of mass destruction from U.N. inspectors.
The poll, commissioned by Channel 4 Television, asked 1,000 people whether they believed Bush was a greater threat to world peace than Saddam. Forty-five percent agreed while 38 percent disagreed.
Two-thirds of those polled said it would be wrong to attack Iraq while inspectors felt they still had a useful job to do.
However, 64 percent of respondents said they agreed with Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s claim that "if the international community fails to act firmly now against Iraq, then the world will become a more dangerous place in years to come." Only 24 percent disagreed.
Those polled were also asked for their views on the following statement: "Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, and to hide as many as possible from the United Nations arms inspectors." Two thirds agreed with the statement while one in five disagreed.
Blair has wholeheartedly supported Washington's campaign to rid Iraq of banned chemical and biological weapons. Iraq denies it has such weapons.
The British Prime Minister has struggled to convince the public of his case, and has faced serious dissent from members of his ruling Labour Party.
A poll conducted by Channel 4 in November produced similar results, with Bush seen as a bigger threat to world peace than the Iraqi President.
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