AHEAD OF THE POLS - AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  The American people seem to be ahead of the politicians, or at least the White House politicians, on Iran.  As David Paul Kuhn writes in Real Clear Politics...

There was a startling poll on Iran last week. Many top Iranian analysts have long believed Tehran's nuclear ambitions will, more likely than not, lead to a military confrontation. What's new, Americans now agree. Cynicism is taking hold.

Americans were asked in a Fox News poll whether: "Iran can be stopped from working on a nuclear weapons program without the use of military force, or will the U.S. eventually need to take military action to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons?"

Six in 10 Americans believe "military action will be necessary." They were not stating this view as passive observers. The same portion of Americans said they "support" the U.S. taking military action to "keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons." A majority of Independents, Democrats and Republicans came to both stark conclusions. This was one poll. But it indicates Iran cannot count on American war fatigue.

Americans are on top of the issue.  But there was a disturbing finding as well:

...not even half of the public is worried about an impending terrorist attack or a U.S. swine flu epidemic.

COMMENT:  The public is growing lax in the war on terror because of poor leadership.  The president does not project a sense of urgency.  Even the arrests of recent weeks have not woken us up.

Fortunately, enough responsible journalists have been warning about Iran, which probably accounts for the heightened public attitude.  We now have to get our groove back in the war on terror.

October 5, 2009