(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Half of adults in the United States believe Barack Obama was right in ordering the release of previously secret records related to the interrogation of terrorism suspects, according to a poll by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News. 53 per cent of respondents support their president’s decision, while 44 per cent oppose it.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Half of adults in the United States believe Barack Obama was right in ordering the release of previously secret records related to the interrogation of terrorism suspects, according to a poll by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News. 53 per cent of respondents support their president’s decision, while 44 per cent oppose it.
In addition, 51 per cent of respondents think the Obama administration should investigate whether any laws were broken in the way terrorism suspects were treated under the previous government, while 47 per cent disagree.
In May 2005, a 308-page report by Amnesty International criticized the U.S. government for its handling of prisoners in several detention centres, including one at Guantanamo Bay where about 400 "enemy combatants"—most of them from Afghanistan—were being held. In January 2009, U.S. president Barack Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility
In November 2005, the Washington Post reported on the existence of secret U.S. prisons for purported terrorism suspects located in Eastern Europe. Then U.S. president George W. Bush declared, "Anything we do to (protect the American people), any activity we conduct, is within the law. We do not torture."
In September 2006, the U.S. Congress authorized the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The legislation prevents the United States from resorting to torture in order to get information from terrorist suspects, allows these suspects to be held indefinitely without being charged with a crime, and forbids them from challenging their confinement in U.S. courts.
The 1949 Geneva Convention defines prisoners of war as members of rival armed forces captured during a conflict. Since the start of the war on terrorism in October 2001, there have been contradictory arguments after captured members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban were defined as "unlawful combatants" who were not subject to the Geneva Convention.
Last month, the federal government declassified four legal opinions—written from 2002 to 2005 by Bush administration lawyers—which approve the use of harsh interrogation methods against 28 terrorism suspects.
On Apr. 28, Republican House minority leader John Boehner expressed dismay at Obama’s decision, saying, "I’m just looking at some of these tactical moves that they’ve made, and I don’t see how they fit into a larger picture. They have no plan for taking on the terrorists, and they have no plan for keeping America safe. What is the overarching strategy here?"
Polling Data
U.S. president Barack Obama has ordered the release of previously secret records of Bush administration policies on the interrogation of terrorism suspects. Do you support or oppose Obama’s decision to release these records?
|
Support |
53% |
|
Oppose |
44% |
|
Unsure |
3% |
Do you think the Obama administration should or should not investigate whether any laws were broken in the way terrorism suspects were treated under the Bush administration?
|
Should |
51% |
|
Should not |
47% |
|
Unsure |
2% |
Source: TNS / Washington Post / ABC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,072 American adults, conducted from Apr. 21 to Apr. 24, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
