CIAO DATE: 10/03

America after 9/11: Public Opinion on the War on Terrorism and the War with Iraq

Introduction

THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: Polls should not be used to make policy whether the issue is sending troops into battle or shoring up Social Security. They are too crude for that purpose. That said, policy makers need to be aware of what the public is thinking. That is what this collection is designed to do. We are very grateful for the cooperation the pollsters have given us in making this collection possible. The document is a work in progress. We began putting it together in late September 2001, and we have updated it weekly, adding new sections as new issues have arisen. With 14 national pollsters in the field on a regular basis, the polling environment has become very competitive. The different ways that pollsters approach a topic and the responses they receive are often useful in understanding what Americans are thinking. Many early observers of our democracy predicted that public opinion would be fickle, making democratic governance and particularly the prosecution of war difficult. The data below contradict that assumption. Americans are never spoiling for a fight. But once convinced of the justness of a cause, they are resolute. They give their Presidents considerable latitude in the conduct of foreign policy once a basic level of trust has been established. The magnitude of the 9/11 attacks, the personal response of President Bush and the response of his team gave the administration instant credibility in an area where the President previously had average marks. Since the start of the military campaign in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, large majorities of Americans have been supportive of the Bush administration's actions in the war on terrorism. The proportion of Americans that believes the United States is winning the war against terrorism, however, has fluctuated. Americans expect this struggle to be a long one. Three questions asked by the Pew Research Center ∼ one in October 2002 and two in April 2003 ∼ show that majorities of Americans believed, both before and after the war in Iraq, that it would help in the war against terrorism.

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