Neary nine out of ten Americans surveyed believe Attorney General John Ashcroft was right to detain some 600 foreign nationals who may have ties to terrorists.

And a full 79 percent of those polled back the Justice Department's plan to interview 5,000 Middle Eastern men who have entered the country on temporary visas.

Seven in ten say they believe the Bush administration is doing enough to protect the civil rights of detainees.

And nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said they support wiretapping conversations between terrorist suspects and their attorneys - a concept that has more than a few left-wing bleeding hearts-types livid.

Even the prospect trying suspected terrorists before military tribunals - the most controversial of all the Bush administration proposals - has the backing of a full 60 percent of Americans surveyed.

"(The Bush administration) is flying in the face of a lot of influential people.....," said Leslie Gelb, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, in an interview with the Post.

"Instead, they're relying on public opinion," he complained.

That's right, Mr. Gelb - the very same public opinion the Senate bowed to in 1999 when it decided not to convict and remove President Clinton for repeatedly perjuring himself before a grand jury.