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U.S. Losing War on Terror, Say Americans
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States think the global effort to fight terrorism is not progressing adequately, according to a poll by Princeton Survey Research Associates released by Newsweek. 52 per cent of respondents think the U.S. is losing the fight against al-Qaeda or radical Islamic terrorism.
Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.
At least 610 soldiers—including 403 Americans—have died in the war on terrorism, either in support of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom or as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
On Jun. 28, U.S. president George W. Bush discussed the current state of affairs, saying, "The stakes are high in the beginning stages of this global war against ideologues that stand for the exact opposite of what America stands for. And what makes the war even more significant is that what happens overseas matters to the security in the United States of America, as we learned on September the 11th, when killers were able to use a failed state to plot the deadly attack."
Polling Data
From what you know about the situation, do you think the United States is losing the fight against al-Qaeda or radical Islamic terrorism?
Yes | 52% |
No | 37% |
Not sure | 11% |
Source: Princeton Survey Research Associates / Newsweek
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,001 American adults, conducted on Jun. 18 to Jun. 19, 2007. Margin of error is 4 per cent.