58% of those polled favor waterboarding of crotch bomber Abdulmutallab Detroit plane terrorist

abdulmutallabAccording to the latest Rasmussen poll, Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day. Only 30% of those polled are against this, and 12% are unsure.

Men and younger voters are more strongly supportive of the aggressive interrogation techniques than women and those who are older. Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party favor their use more than Democrats.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of all voters think the attempt by the Nigerian Muslim to blow up the airliner as it landed in Detroit should be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act. Only 22% say it should be handled by civilian authorities as a criminal act, as is currently the case.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it’s in the news, it’s in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been forced to backtrack on some of her earlier assurances about the quality of the government response to the incident, and news reports have revealed that U.S. intelligence had prior warnings about the bomber. Thirty-four percent (34%) of voters now rate the government’s response to the attempted bombing as good or excellent, but 35% say the response has been poor.

All these findings are explained in part by the belief of 43% that when it comes to national security the U.S. legal system worries too much about protecting individual rights. That’s up four points from November.

Just 17% say the system is too concerned about protecting national security at the expense of individual rights. Twenty-eight percent (28%) believe the balance between the two is about right.
A couple of years ago, the number who believed the system worried too much about national security was roughly the same as the number who thought it was too worried about protecting individual rights.

No TweetBacks yet. (Be the first to Tweet this post)

December 31, 2009 · Filed Under muslims, Terrorism


Comments