I hope you’re sitting down. This may come as a bit of a shock.

63% of the residents in the San Francisco Bay Area support the war in Iraq. (Hat tip: Cowgirl Carrie.)

Despite the Bay Area’s reputation as a hotbed for anti-war dissent, the overwhelming majority of residents support U.S. military action in Iraq, a Field Poll released today shows.

The first statewide survey published since the war began last month found that 3 out of 4 Californians support U.S. efforts to remove Saddam Hussein from power, a figure that mirrors national polls on the same question. The poll also found that California’s opinion of President Bush had risen since the war began, reversing a yearlong downward trend.

Although support for the war was lower in the Bay Area than elsewhere in the state, residents in the nine-county region told pollsters by nearly a 2-to- 1 ratio that they approve of the U.S. attack.

Asked “Do you support or oppose the U.S.’ taking military action in Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power,” 63 percent said they favor and 32 percent said they oppose, a result that surprised even the pollsters.

Oh Indymedia, irrelevance is thy name.