As the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks approaches this weekend, a new poll has found that nearly two-thirds of registered voters believe the tragedy definitely changed American lives, rather than thinking the same thing as the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Fox News poll, 64% of U.S. voters believe the attacks changed the way Americans live “permanently,” and another 24% said they had changed things “temporarily.”
In comparison, a Fox News poll conducted in June found that 50% of respondents believed that COVID-19 had changed American life forever, while 42% said they had only done so temporarily.
About 3,000 people died on September 11, 2001 when planes hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists were deliberately blown up in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a camp in Shanksville, Pa. The attacks precipitated invasions and prolonged occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq; the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); as well as an increase in security at airports, major events, and notable public buildings and tourist sites throughout the United States.
When asked to classify five actions the federal government took in response to the attacks, a majority of voters approved increasing security at airports and setting up DHS, with 69 and 63 percent of respondents going say “they were the right answer,” respectively. Only 15% of voters said increasing airport security was an “excessive reaction,” while 18% said the same of the DHS foundation.
There was less support for the war in Afghanistan, with only 49% of voters saying the invasion of Afghanistan was an appropriate reaction to 9/11 (compared to 56% in 2011) and the 25% described it as an excessive reaction (up to 21%). in 2011). Another 20% said U.S. military action in Afghanistan “did not go far enough,” compared to 17% in 2011.
The poll was conducted in early August, before the Taliban launched its latest offensive against the Western-backed Afghan government and forced the random evacuation of U.S. military forces, U.S. citizens and its Afghan allies.
When it came to Iraq, pollsters saw a slight rise in the number of voters who said the invasion of that country in 2003 was adequate (46 percent compared to 44 percent in 2011) and a decrease in nine percentage points in respondents an excessive reaction (31 percent compared to 40 percent in 2011.). An additional 18% of voters said the invasion and occupation of Iraq “did not go far enough,” compared to 12% who thought the same thing 10 years ago.
The policy that received the least support was the enhanced interrogation technique of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to deal with terrorism suspects, commonly known as “waterboarding” shorthand. Only 37% of respondents said these methods were appropriate, while 38% described them as an overreaction and 18% said they did not go far enough.
In all, 65% of voters said the changes made in response to 9/11 have made America safer, compared to only 17% who said they were less secure.
Despite the lasting impact of this day, voters are evenly distributed on the question of whether 9/11 should be a federal holiday, with 47% believing it should be done and 46% believing it should be. no.
The same survey also found that only 58% of respondents were “extremely” or “very” concerned about future Islamist terrorist attacks against the US, placing it at the bottom of a list of 13 issues, including inflation (86 % “extremely” or “very” concerned), violent crime (81%), China’s growing power (73%), pandemic (69%), racism (66%) and climate change (60%) ).