ABC News/Washington Post Six Months After September 11th Poll, March 2002

This special topic poll was undertaken to assess public
opinion on United States military and political action regarding
terrorism and terrorist threats six months after September 11, 2001.
Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President George
W. Bush and his handling of the presidency and the campaign against
terrorism. Views were also elicited on the military action in
Afghanistan, the likelihood and necessity of capturing Al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden, foreign diplomacy, the possibility of broader
anti-terrorist military action, and the effects of September 11th. A
series of questions asked whether those queried supported military
action in Afghanistan, whether they thought the military action was
going well, whether the campaign would become more or less difficult,
whether United States involvement would at some point become
comparable to its involvement in the Vietnam War, and whether the
United States was doing enough to avoid United States military
casualties. In regards to bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network,
respondents were asked how confident they were that bin Laden would be
captured or killed, whether the success of the war on terrorism
depended on bin Laden's being captured or killed, how effectively the
United States had limited bin Laden's ability to maintain the Al Qaeda
network, whether large numbers of United States military casualties
should be risked to capture or kill bin Laden, and whether the United
States should focus specifically on capturing/killing bin Laden,
neutralizing the Al Qaeda network, neither of the two, or both
actions. Another series of questions focused on United States
diplomatic relationships and the possibility of expanding the current
military campaign to other countries. Respondents were asked if the
United States was effectively winning support from its allies in the
war on terrorism, if the United States was effectively winning support
from Muslims in general in the war against terrorism, if American
troops should be sent to countries such as the Philippines and Yemen,
and if American military action should be taken against Iraq in order
to depose Saddam Hussein. If respondents supported action against Iraq
to remove Saddam Hussein, they were asked whether allied opposition to
such action would affect their support. With respect to future
terrorist attacks, respondents were queried as to how much confidence
they had in the United States government to prevent such attacks, how
concerned they were about more terrorist attacks, and whether the
United States was doing all it could to prevent terrorism. The final
section focused on changes brought about by the events of September
11th and included questions on whether respondents felt those events
had changed the United States in a lasting way, and if so whether this
change was for the better or worse, whether respondents' personal
lives had been changed, and if so whether their day-to-day lives or
their feelings about things were more prominently affected. The last
question asked about the respondent's pride in being an
American. Background information on respondents includes age, gender,
political party, education, Hispanic origin, whether they were
currently displaying an American flag in their homes or on their cars,
and if so, whether they began doing so after September 11, 2002, or
had already been displaying the flag beforehand.

本专题民意调查旨在评估2001年9月11日事件发生六个月后，公众对美国针对恐怖主义及恐怖威胁的军事与政治行动的看法。受访者需就乔治·W·布什（George W. Bush）总统及其执政表现、反恐战役的应对举措发表评价。调查同时征集了受访者对于阿富汗军事行动、抓获基地组织（Al Qaeda）领导人奥萨马·本·拉登（Osama bin Laden）的可能性与必要性、外交政策、扩大反恐军事行动的可能性，以及9·11事件影响的观点。一系列问题涵盖：受访者是否支持阿富汗军事行动、认为该军事行动进展是否顺利、反恐战役难度将升高还是降低、美国的军事卷入程度是否会最终堪比越南战争，以及美国在避免美军人员伤亡方面是否尽到足够努力。针对本·拉登与基地组织网络的相关问题包括：受访者对抓获或击毙本·拉登的信心程度、反恐战争的成功是否取决于抓获或击毙本·拉登、美国在限制本·拉登维系基地组织网络的能力方面成效如何、是否应承担大量美军伤亡风险以抓获或击毙本·拉登，以及美国应专注于抓获/击毙本·拉登、瓦解基地组织网络、两者均不开展，还是同时推进两项行动。另一组问题聚焦美国外交关系，以及将当前军事行动扩大至其他国家的可能性。受访者被询问：美国是否在反恐战争中有效获得盟友支持、是否有效赢得全球穆斯林群体的普遍支持、是否应向菲律宾、也门等国派遣美军部队，以及是否应针对伊拉克采取军事行动以推翻萨达姆·侯赛因（Saddam Hussein）。若受访者支持对伊行动以罢免萨达姆，则进一步询问盟友反对该行动是否会影响其支持态度。关于未来恐怖袭击的相关调查中，受访者被问及对美国政府防范此类袭击的信心程度、对更多恐怖袭击事件的担忧程度，以及美国是否已尽一切努力防范恐怖主义。最后一部分聚焦9·11事件带来的社会变化，相关问题包括：受访者是否认为该事件对美国产生了持久影响，若是则该变化是向好还是向坏；受访者的个人生活是否因该事件发生改变，若是则日常起居还是对事物的感受受到的影响更为显著。最后一个问题询问受访者为身为美国人而感到自豪的程度。受访者的背景信息包括年龄、性别、政治党派、受教育程度、西班牙裔血统、是否在家中或车辆上悬挂美国国旗，若是则其悬挂行为是始于2001年9月11日之后，还是在此之前已有该习惯。