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.

本专项民调（special topic poll）于2001年9月25日至27日开展，旨在评估受访者对2001年9月11日恐怖袭击事件的反应与感受。此次袭击摧毁了纽约市世界贸易中心双子塔、损毁了华盛顿特区五角大楼，并导致一架客机在宾夕法尼亚州坠毁。调研对象被要求评价乔治·W·布什总统处理总统职务及恐怖袭击事件的方式；被问及是否支持采取军事行动作为回应，以及是否认为美国政府会因此次袭击而开战。此外，他们还被询问：若军事行动引发他国无辜平民伤亡，且长期战争导致大量美军人员死伤，受访者是否仍会持相同态度；是否支持针对恐怖组织及其支持国发起更大规模的战争；是否认为美国本土将再度发生重大恐怖袭击；美国应如何开展针对国际恐怖主义的战争；以及假设美国达成了所有作战目标，但若再度发生重大恐怖袭击，是否仍可视为打赢了反恐战争。调研还收集了受访者对此次袭击主要嫌疑人奥萨马·本·拉登（Osama bin Laden）的看法——据报道其当时藏匿于阿富汗；被问及是否认为美国能够抓获或击毙本·拉登，并大幅减少针对美国的恐怖袭击。受访者还被问及是否应因反恐战争将教育改革和老年人处方药相关议题推迟至少一年；此外还涵盖了受访者对政府履职的信任程度、自身爱国情怀、是否更珍惜本国所享有的各项权利，以及是否更愿意为国家利益做出个人牺牲等话题。受访者的背景信息包括年龄、性别、政党倾向、受教育程度、居住地区、婚姻状况、家庭子女情况、种族以及家庭收入水平。