WASHINGTON – The American public’s support for the war against Iraq remains strong, but early optimism that the war will be quick has started to wane, weekend polls suggest.

About seven in 10 people said they support the war, and even more said they believe that it’s generally going well, according to an ABC-Washington Post poll.

While the public was generally optimistic in the opening days of the war that it would be relatively short, public hopes that the war would be over quickly have started to fade, according to several polls out Monday. That trend emerged as U.S. forces encountered heavy resistance Sunday and had troops killed and captured.

A CBS-New York Times poll taken Sunday found that a majority, 53 percent, say the war against Iraq could take months, while four in 10 said a few weeks. A majority in Saturday’s polling said they thought it would just take a few weeks.

The ABC-Washington Post poll Sunday found that a majority, 54 percent, now think the war will cause a significant number of casualties, compared with 37 percent who felt that way late last week.

A CNN-USA Today Gallup poll taken over the weekend found that the number who said the war is going well dropped from 62 percent Saturday to 44 percent on Sunday.

The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 1,020 adults was taken Saturday and Sunday and has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The CBS-New York Times poll of 605 adults was taken Sunday and has an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The ABC-Washington Post poll of 580 adults was taken Sunday and has an error margin of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.