Fifty-eight percent of those polled say America’s relationship with Israel is a big reason terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11. Forty-seven percent say the terrorists acted because of their opposition to he Gulf War and U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf. And 62 percent say general resentment of U.S. military and economic power drove the terrorists to attack.
Asked whether the Unites States should consider changing its policies in the Middle East to try to reduce anti-American sentiment, 46 percent say change should be considered. But a statistically even 43 percent say no change in policy should be made. Just 22 percent say the United States should reduce ties with Israel; 61 percent disagree. Most Americans view such a change as ineffective: just 63 percent say moving away from Israel would not reduce terrorism.
President George W. Bush’s approval rating remains at 84 percent–nearly the same as one week ago in the NEWSWEEK poll. Eighty-eight percent of Americans say they approve of the way he is handling the terrorist attacks.
Americans continue to believe that the United States should retaliate for the Sept. 11 attacks, but their patience is beginning to erode. A majority (55 percent) say they are still willing to wait as long as necessary for the United States to put together an effective plan to use military force. But that’s a decline from 63 percent in last week’s NEWSWEEK poll.
And about one in four Americans (24 percent) say the military strikes should have taken place already, up slightly from the 18 percent in last week’s poll.
For the NEWSWEEK poll, Prince Survey Research Associates interviewed 1.002 adults by telephone Oct. 4 - Oct. 5. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
