Poll: One-Third Back Preemptively Nuking North Korea

The Hill reports:

More than 1 in 3 Americans would back a preemptive nuclear strike on North Korea if the nation tested a missile capable of reaching the U.S., according to a poll conducted by YouGov and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

“For many of these hawks, support for an attack, even in a preventive war, does not significantly decrease when the story says that the United States would use nuclear weapons that are expected to kill 1 million North Korean civilians,” researchers wrote.

The poll also found that while only 33 percent of respondents would prefer a nuclear strike that killed as many as 15,000 civilians, 50 percent would approve if one actually occurred. Fewer respondents said they would approve such a strike if it only had a 50-50 chance of preventing retaliation.

Read the Atomic Scientists’ extensive analysis.