These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
49% Say Impact of 9/11 Attacks Forgotten By Most Americans
Friday, September 11, 2009
Forty-nine percent (49%) of Americans believe that most of their fellow countrymen have already forgotten the impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in which 3,000 died.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey in conjunction with the eighth anniversary of the attacks finds that 39% disagree and do not think most Americans have forgotten the impact of that day. Twelve percent (12%) are not sure.
Men are more likely than women to think most Americans have forgotten the impact of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. That view is held more strongly by adults 40 to 64 than those in other age groups.
Republicans are more than twice as likely as Democrats to say most Americans have forgotten the impact of the events of September 11, a view shared by 52% of adults not affiliated with either political party.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of Americans say it is at least somewhat likely that another 9/11 will take place in the United States in the next 10 years. Thirty-six percent (36%) say it is very likely. Twenty-two percent (22%) say such an attack is not very likely, but only two percent (2%) say it's not at all likely.
Nearly three-out-of-five Americans (59%) say the country has changed for the worse since those attacks. Just 16% say America has changed for the better, while 14% believe there has been no change as a result of 9/11.
Interestingly, one year after the attacks , 57% said America had changed for the better while just 23% said worse. But by the second anniversary of 9/11, only 38% said the United States had changed for the better and 47% said it had changed for the worse.
One obvious change, however, is the increase in security precautions surrounding airline travel. But 31% of Americans say the increased security precautions stemming from the September 11 attacks are more hassle than they're worth. Fifty-one percent (51%) disagree and say the precautions are worth any trouble they cause. Seventeen percent (17%) are undecided.
Although the United States took military action against Afghanistan and Iraq in response to the 9/11 attacks, 42% expect the amount of terrorism in the world to increase when U.S. forces leave those countries . Republicans believe this much more strongly than Democrats and unaffiliated adults.
Nineteen percent (19%) of adults say the amount of terrorism will decrease after the United States leaves Iraq and Afghanistan, while 21% think it will stay about the same and 17% are unsure.
Twenty-seven percent (27%) say al-Qaeda is stronger today than before 9/11, but 25% say the terrorist group is weaker. Thirty-nine percent (39%) say its strength is about the same.
Seventy-one percent (71%) believe al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11, is still alive, but most Americans (56%) don't think his death or capture will make the United States safer.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of Americans believe it is at least somewhat likely that there will be a significant terrorist attack in the United States in the next year . Still, that figure is down from 70% in the summer of 2007 and 58% in December 2008.
American confidence in how the United States is doing in the War on Terror has fallen, and voters are now evenly divided on the question of whether America is safer today than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks: 41% say yes, 41% say no, and 18% are unsure. These are the lowest findings on this question in months.
Americans still tend to see more enemies than friends in the Middle East , and despite President Obama's outreach efforts, they show no increase in confidence that the U.S. relationship with the Muslim world is improving.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of U.S. voters are at least somewhat concerned that dangerous terrorists will be set free if the Guantanamo prison camp is closed as Obama plans and some prisoners are transferred to other countries.
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To view the original post, please use this link: Remember 9/11?