Confidence In War On Terror Wanes - Only 33% Think US Is 'Winning' War

USA Today ^ | 25 June 2002 | Richard Benedetto

[Asmodeus]

One in three Americans say the United States is winning the war on terrorism, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.

Half say the war is at a stalemate.

Public confidence that the United States and its allies are winning has slipped to 33%, the lowest level since Sept. 11.

[Paul Atreides]

A poll from USAToday? They're going to have to come up with a more credible poll than that if they're going to convince me.

[hopespringseternal]

They are right. Al Qaeda and the Taliban made themselves obvious targets. Others have been smart enough to keep a low profile, or just go after Israel.

Our security measures are a politically correct joke, if the Islamists weren't so abysmally stupid they could hit us with impugnity.

[SunStar]

We can bash this poll, or we can be realistic about the situation.

Bin Laden, Mulluh Mohammed Omar, and company have not been caught or killed as of yet. We have made a good start insofar as destroying their ability to operate in Afganistan. However, we have not tackled the Pakistan Peshawar situation, or any of the other terrorist nations and groups throughout Asia and the Middle East. The war is just beginning, yet has waned. Hopefully, after President Bush's excellent speech yesterday which returned the moral clarity of his September 20, 2001 speech, we will get back to the War. I would like to see some decisive victories in the near future. I am 100% supportive of this war, yet I would have also voted that we are not winning the war as of yet. Let's (continue to) roll!

[harrym]

I think we are dealing in semantics here. Terrorism is a method of warfare used to intimidate established governments through violence towards their civilian populations and territories. What we are engaged in is really a war against groups/governments who are employing terrorist tactics. Are we winning against them? That should be the question. Well, we have curtailed training activities in Afghanistan and ousted the government which was supporting them, that is one victory. We have tightened homeland security, that is one deterant to terrorism. All told, I would say that we are engaged in the battle and it is not yet even half over, so any talk of succes is a little premature.

[Spruce]

Agreed.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The latest Battleground (bipartisan) has different results:

New Battleground Poll
			Posted by IMRight On Jun 25 4:21 PM with 45 comments

[Peter Libra]

A vital and completely necessary part of any "war" is the morale of the civilian population. The fact that so far, as is known ,no casualties have occurred on the United States ,since September 11th ,almost certainly means somebody is out there doing a good job.

Doom and gloom aint gonna help. In the meantime it certainly is a war of nerves. Surly looking jokers of Middle-East origin taking photographs and videos of installations. Then they hide under the good laws of free people, claiming there is NO LAW against it.

People then get up tight. Of course it does not do to let ones guard down. Funny thing though, hardly met anyone who remembers a war booster film in 1944. "Where Do We Go From Here"- Fred McMurray was in it. There was one heck of a song- "Morale is the gal that your'e fond of"- and a dazzling young woman in a red dress. It was thoroughly understood then about civilian morale. Well, corny though this is, the lesson is "Carry on America". I know most are doing just that.

[gjpino]

Only took till post 2 to bash the pollster. I'm not surprised. I'm sure you waved your hands in the air with delight when they showed Bush at 75% approval. Back then, who the pollster was didn't matter. But maybe this time the poll was "taken on the weekend".

Some people. Head in the Sand.

[pt17]

Agreed.

[zarf]

LOL!!! I love the tone of your comments juxaposed with your screen name!!!

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Nonsense, We took over Afganistan, ran out the bad guys, helped set up new Govt. Now the next move. This poll is hogwash.

[RISU]

Every Freeper ought to go rent a movie called "Brazil" from Blockbuster. In that movie, 15 years ago, the story is told of a society involved in "constant war" against "terrorism".

It is a scream...

[Kevin Curry]

About the same percentage that believes we are losing the War on Drugs.

About the same percentage of suburban homeowners that believes it is losing the War on Crabgrass.

Guess we'll just have to pack it in and surrender to terrorists, dope, and crabgrass. *Sigh*

On the other hand, some evils are by their nature long-term and require patience and diligence to defeat.

[CecilRhodesGhost]

Maybe the poll numbers will increase if Iraq is attacked. This could inject new enthusiasm into the war effort.

[Paul Atreides]

First, never say you are sure of something until you see it happen. Second, I believe that it is possible for people to be clueless about the nature of the war on terrorism yet, still show a high approval rating for the President. It's entirely possible that a lot of people thought the war should have been over within three months. Just look at Clinton's ratings; a surprising number of people thought he was doing a good job as President, although they disapproved of his actions with Monica. Personally, I really don't put much credence in ANY poll. When you factor in what people will say just to get the person off the phone, that they might tell pollsters what they want to hear, and how the question might be worded, etc., I don't know if there is a way of accurately judging.

[PoppingSmoke]

33%? Heck we just got started! The Administration has to do better, but we are still a long way from winning anything.

[pt17]

This government has focused on everything but the enemy within this country and completely ignored our wide open borders.

I agree with you on the wide open borders; however, to say the government hasn't focused on the enemy within simply isn't true. You may not be aware of it, but there's A LOT GOING ON to protect your a$$ if you're an American.

[MissAmericanPie]

"We have tightened homeland security, that is one deterant to terrorism"

How exactly have we done that?