s they move from shock to fury, Americans are bracing for the United States to go to war, and they overwhelmingly say the nation should take military action against those responsible for the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows.

That sentiment declines at the prospect that thousands of innocent civilians abroad could be killed. Still, a majority of Americans support engagement by the military even under those circumstances.

The crisis has spurred the public to put aside its past reservations about the leadership of President Bush and instead to rally wholeheartedly behind the relatively new president and express confidence in his ability to guide the nation. His job approval rating has soared to 84 percent, compared with 50 percent just over a month ago.

Americans say they are ready to alter their lifestyles, and even sacrifice some of their own liberties, for safety considerations. They say they would be willing to arrive three hours early for domestic airline flights to pass through heightened security and would withstand long lines at public events and in public buildings to pass through metal detectors and inspections by guards.

The public also supports changing the law to allow for the assassination of people in foreign countries who commit terrorist attacks.

Although more than half the respondents said they did not think Arab-Americans were any more sympathetic toward terrorists than other Americans, the public is expecting a backlash against Arab- Americans, Muslims and immigrants from the Middle East.

The telephone poll of 959 adults nationwide was conducted on Thursday and Friday, as Americans were only beginning to digest the implications of the terrorist attacks and to ponder how the nation should respond. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

As the initial shock of last Tuesday's attacks begins to dissipate, Americans are now turning toward thoughts of punishing the perpetrators. The poll did not ask who people think is the enemy or what specific action they envision. But in follow-up interviews many respondents in the Times/CBS poll said they backed military action, even if that meant American casualties.

"I don't like the idea of American lives being lost in a war," said Virginia Harrison, 56, a housewife in Tallahassee, Fla., "but we can't just sit here and let them continue to do it because they will probably do it again. I don't believe innocent people should be killed if it's not necessary, but we had innocent people who were killed."

Describing herself as "angry and outraged," Joy Hess, 58, a library clerk in Medford, Ore., said: "I'm not talking about revenge, but justice. I have a son in the military and I know loss of life is a risk. But there is no other way to get across that we mean business. We wouldn't be where we are now in history if we hadn't fought for our freedom. Freedom means losses sometimes."

It is not a huge surprise that Mr. Bush faces the most critical chapter of his presidency with a surge in his popularity. His 11 predecessors enjoyed sharp increases in support during crises. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's ratings skyrocketed. He was the earliest president about whom such surveys were taken. John F. Kennedy won great public support during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, as did Jimmy Carter when hostages were seized in Iran in 1979 and Mr. Bush's father, George Bush, in the Persian Gulf war in 1991.

Seven in 10 Americans now say President Bush is a strong leader, including 55 percent of Democrats. That is his highest rating since he became president, up from 54 percent in June.

In the follow-up interviews, several people said they were heartened that Mr. Bush had been turning to seasoned advisers.

"Even though I'm a Democrat, I approve of him," Mrs. Harrison said. "He's doing the best he can, and I'm sure he has a lot of advisers."

Robert Fye, 77, a retired Army officer from Scottsdale, Ariz., put it this way: "As a Republican who voted for him, I haven't always agreed with him but I think he's done a good job. I feel more comfortable with him than I do with many others in the campaign who said that he didn't have any foreign policy experience. He's got advisers and good people working for him."

Not everyone was so confident.

"I need to wait and see how he will handle this as far as being our leader," said Rick Adler, 41, a court clerk in Mineola, N.Y. "This is really the test, and we're going to see what he's made of. It remains to be seen, but for the present time, I approve."

But there are no assurances that Mr. Bush's popularity will persist. His father's peak job approval of nearly 90 percent in early March 1991 after the early success in the gulf war eroded as economic anxieties rose and the immediacy of war faded. His job approval tumbled to 37 percent just before the 1992 presidential election.

The most long-lived increases in public favor were the 30 weeks for President Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor, the 31 weeks for President Kennedy after the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and the 30 weeks for President Carter after the hostages were seized.

Underscoring the degree of commitment, 68 percent of Americans said they believed the United States would go to war.

Eighty-five percent said the United States should take military action against whoever is responsible for the attacks. Seventy-five percent of those people said the action should be mounted even if innocent people were killed. Almost all of them said they would favor going to war with a nation that was harboring those responsible for the attacks.

While majorities of all demographic groups supported using military force, men were more likely to support it than women. Those who lived through World War II and the wars in Korea and Vietnam were the least likely to back military engagement.

Sixty-two percent said they were "very confident" in the ability to capture the people who planned the attacks; 29 percent said they were "somewhat confident."

Despite the wrenching scenes of destruction at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a majority of those polled said they were not very concerned about a terrorist attack in their own communities.

Still, 74 percent of the respondents said they thought it would be necessary for Americans to give up some of their personal freedoms to make the country safe from terrorists. Eighty-six percent said they favored guards and metal detectors at public buildings and events. Sixty-nine percent said they would be willing to arrive three hours early for a domestic airline flight.

But the public is willing to go only so far. Only 39 percent said they would be willing to allow government agencies to monitor the telephone calls and e-mail messages of ordinary Americans.

Andrea Aguilar, 41, a housecleaner in Petaluma, Calif., said: "I'm prepared for a change of lifestyle and I would be patient with that if the added security would save lives. I wouldn't mind waiting in line to pass through security points. But I don't want the government to go into our personal lives."