BRISTOL, November 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A poll of thousands of Britons has found almost half the public see Tony Blair as George W. Bush's "lapdog", Ananova website reported Wednesday, November 14.

The poll for a Channel 4 News special program also showed that only 13% of the public back military action against Iraq, with 9% definitely opposed, but 76% are still open to persuasion, the site said.

“Mr. Bush is viewed as a greater threat to world peace than Saddam Hussein by one in three of those still undecided about the merits of military action,” it said.

“Mr. Blair's biggest obstacle to winning over public opinion in favor of military action is his ally Mr. Bush,” the site added.

When given a straight choice between the two leaders, some 32% of the undecided said Bush posed the greatest threat to world peace, compared with 49% who named Saddam Hussein.

According to the poll, over a third saw Blair as a restraining influence on Bush, with 13% maintaining neither influenced the other.

The poll also highlighted people's biggest fears over launching war on Iraq. Some 93% said it would increase the risk of terrorist reprisals, 82% feared a severe economic cost, and 39% thought there could be a long drawn-out war with no clear winner, the site said.

The research was carried out by U.S. pollster Dr. Frank Luntz who recently helped guide President Bush to unprecedented success in the mid-term elections, it added.

Two polls were conducted by YouGov via the internet. Some 3,213 people were polled between October 29 and November 8. The second survey involved a split sample of 2,256 between November 8 and 11.

The British Prime Minister has been following the U.S. in almost all its decisions and acts concerning the so-called war on terrorism, which left thousands of Afghan civilians dead.

He has also backed the U.S. President’s insistence to launch a unilateral war on 12-year-sanctopn-hit Iraq, despite fierce rejection from the entire international community, especially France, Germany and Russia.