INDIANAPOLIS - Nearly half of Indiana residents do not believe the war in Iraq was worth the cost, according to a new statewide poll.

The poll results released Monday by Indianapolis television station WISH found that 49 percent of Hoosiers did not support the Iraq war, while 41 percent supported it and 10 percent were undecided.

That split, however, was much closer in two southern Indiana congressional districts that are among the closest watched in the nation.

In the 8th District, where Republican Rep. John Hostettler faces Democrat Brad Ellsworth, the poll found a 45 percent to 45 percent split on support for the war, with 10 percent undecided.

The poll results for the 9th District, where Republican Rep. Mike Sodrel faces former Democratic Rep. Baron Hill, showed 46 percent opposing the war, while 43 percent supported it and 11 percent undecided.

Statewide, the poll found a wide gap in views about the war based on gender and political affiliation:

_ A majority, 51 percent, of women opposed the war, with 36 percent supporting. Among men, 47 percent opposed the war, with 46 percent against it.

_ Those who said they were Republicans supported the war by a 65 percent to 27 percent margin. Among Democrats, 76 percent were against the war, with 13 percent supporting. Those who said they were independents or of other political parties opposed the war 53 percent to 35 percent.

Hoosiers showed no consensus on whether American troops should be withdrawn from Iraq, with 39 percent saying keep the troop levels steady, 33 percent backing a start to troop withdrawal, 11 percent wanting immediate troop withdrawal, and 9 percent saying increase the U.S. military force.

The telephone poll of 800 likely voters was conducted Sept. 5-8 by Maryland-based Research 2000. The poll has a statewide sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The sampling error for individual congressional districts is plus or minus 5 percentage points.