Nonetheless, Americans in general report feeling no less safe this week than last, with 24 percent saying they’ve felt somewhat or a lot less safe since the terrorist attacks. The one exception is in the Northeast region, site of the recent anthrax cases, where 32 percent of residents polled feel less safe now, compared with 26 percent last week.
Support for the military action in Afghanistan holds steady at an overwhelming 88 percent. However, Americans don’t have very high expectations that Osama bin Laden will be found using current military tactics. While a majority (62 percent) think it is at least somewhat likely that bin Laden will be captured or killed, only 26 percent think this is very likely. However, a full 79 percent say it is likely that our military effort will be successful in removing the Taliban from power.
For this NEWSWEEK poll, Princeton Survey Research Associates interviewed 1,005 adults aged 18 and older Oct. 25-26 by telephone. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
