ABC News/Washington Post Terrorist Attack Poll #4, September 2001

This special topic poll, conducted September 25-27, 2001,
was undertaken to assess respondents' reactions to and feelings about
the terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center towers in
New York City, damaged the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and caused a
plane crash in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. Respondents were
asked to give their opinions of the way President George W. Bush was
handling the presidency and the terrorist attacks. Respondents were also
asked whether they would support taking military action in response,
and whether they believed that the United States government would go
to war as a result of the attacks. They were further asked whether
they would feel the same way if military action caused the death of or
injured innocent civilians in other countries and large numbers of
American troops due to a long war. Respondents were queried on
whether they would support mounting a broader war against terrorist
groups and the nations that support them,
whether they believed there would be more major terrorist attacks
in this country, what the United States must do in its war on
international terrorism, and, supposing that the United States accomplished
all of its objectives, whether it would still have won the war on terrorism
if there were to be another major terrorist attack. Respondents'
opinions were elicited on Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in
the attack, who was reportedly living in Afghanistan. They were asked
whether they believed that the United States would capture or kill bin
Laden, and would be able to significantly reduce terrorist attacks
against the United States. Respondents were also asked whether action
on education reform and prescription drugs for seniors should be
postponed for at least a year because of the war on terrorism.
Additional topics covered how much the respondents trusted the
government to do the right thing, how patriotic they were, whether they
appreciated more the privileges they had in this country, and whether
they were more willing to make personal sacrifices for the good of the
country. Background information on respondents includes age, gender,
political party, education, residency, marital status, children in
household, race, and household income.