President Bush  has reversed the slide in public support for a possible war with Iraq, with two-thirds, 66 percent, in an ABC-Washington Post poll released Saturday saying they support military action against Iraq. That's up from 57 percent who felt that way in mid-January in this poll. Significantly, 51 percent said they support military action even if the United Nations  is opposed. The number that supported military action over U.N. opposition was at 37 percent in mid-December.

Bush tried to make the case for his aggressive Iraq policy in the State of the Union speech Tuesday. Approval of the president's handling of the Iraq situation was up to 61 percent, compared with 50 percent in an ABC-Post poll released Jan. 20.

But the public would still like to see more evidence about Iraq's weapons programs, the poll indicated.

Almost six in 10, 57 percent, said in the new poll that they would like to see more evidence and that grows to 68 percent if the U.N. weapons inspectors don't find hard evidence on their own.

Secretary of State Colin Powell  is headed to the United Nations this week to present evidence the administration says should help convince other nations that military action is justified.

People are evenly divided on whether military action is appropriate in a few weeks or whether more time is needed, the poll suggests. And the number that think the Bush administration will move too quickly is down slightly from 55 percent in mid January to 49 percent now.

Nine in 10 Republicans support an attack on Iraq, while about half of Democrats feel that way. Seven in 10 Republicans support an attack even if the United Nations is opposed, just over three in 10 Democrats would still support an attack in that situation.

Bush's job approval in the poll was at 62 percent, about the same as recent ABC-Post polls, with approval of his handling of the campaign against terrorism at 75 percent.

The poll of 855 adults was taken Thursday through Saturday and has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

PHOTO CAPTION

United States Army soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division based in Ft. Stewart, Ga., attack a mock village after dismounting from a Bradley tank during urban warfare training in the Kuwaiti desert Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, in Kuwait. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezia