SUPPORT FOR AIRSTRIKES IN DOUBT.(MAIN)

Byline: STEWART M. POWELL and JUDY HOLLAND Times Union Washington bureau

WASHINGTON -- Even as President Clinton tried Tuesday to rally the American people and the Republican-led Congress to support U.S. airstrikes against Iraq, he acknowledged that he has an uphill fight.

In his speech at the Pentagon he said, ``I know that the people we may call upon in uniform are ready. The American people have to be ready as well.'' But as he spoke, a new poll by USA Today-CNN-Gallup showed that Americans prefer diplomacy over force, 54 percent to 41 percent. Just two weeks ago, in the same poll, those surveyed preferred military action, 50 percent to 46 percent. …