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Poll Results Indicate Americans Strongly Back Bush Anti-Terror Measures
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Some six in 10 Americans support President George W. Bush's order to try non-U.S. terror suspects in military tribunals rather than criminal courts, a
Washington Post/ABC News poll revealed Thursday.
That figure and other poll results reflected wide support for measures instituted by the Bush administration as part of its anti-terror drive in the wake of the deadly September 11 terror attacks in the United States.
Of those polled by the two media outlets, 79% said they backed the government's plan to question some 5,000 men of Middle Eastern descent living in the United States on tourist visas.
And 86% said they believed the government was justified in detaining hundreds of suspects on immigration violations in the context of its September 11 investigation, according to the survey.
The anti-terror measures have sparked controversy on Capitol Hill, with leading Democrats charging they threaten basic civil liberties.
An administration plan to wiretap conversations between terror suspects and their attorneys, which would break the tradition of attorney-client privilege, received support from 73% of those polled.
Bush's job approval rating remained at an overwhelming 89%, the same figure revealed in a poll conducted three weeks ago, and 91% support the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan launched on October 7.
USA TODAY said this support is up from 79% earlier this month, when success was less apparent and criticism of the war seemed to be gaining volume.
Washington is targeting the country's crumbling Taliban regime for refusing to hand over Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, whom it accuses of masterminding the deadly September 11 attacks that killed nearly 4,000 people.
While most Americans support a strong U.S. military role in Afghanistan, far fewer advocate U.S. leadership on issues like humanitarian aid (32%), a peacekeeping force (32%) or forming a new government (22%), the poll revealed.
The news organizations interviewed 759 randomly selected adults from across the nation by telephone on Tuesday to compile the poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
Another poll found that nearly three quarters of Americans support widening the war to Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power, according to a
USA TODAY report. Bush had warned Hussein to let weapons inspectors in or else he would "find out" the consequences.
The USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll found that 80% are convinced of Osama bin Laden's responsibility for the attacks, and most said he should be killed, not captured,
USA TODAY said.
The poll also agreed with the Post/ABC poll that most Americans support the anti-terror measures taken by the government, and do not feel that the measures have eroded civil liberties.
USA TODAY reported that 60% say the response has been about right and 26% say it has not gone far enough.
Only 10% of those polled say it has gone too far.
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