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.