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Public opinion today

Americans narrowly side with AG on terror trial

A slim majority of 52% think Holder made the right call

Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed will stand trial in New York alongside four cohorts Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed will stand trial in New York alongside four cohorts

In a much anticipated move, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-declared mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, would stand trial at a federal court in New York.  The Attorney General has received widespread criticism for his decision, but for a majority of Americans – albeit a narrow one – he has made the right call.

Caught in between two conflicting approaches to prosecuting suspects in terror cases, Americans are somewhat divided with a narrow majority of 52% believing the administration made the right call in deciding to prosecute Mohammed in New York. Supporters have argued that prosecuting terror suspects in courts of law highlights the primacy of American values and justice, which they argue is key to fighting terrorism. Democrats overwhelmingly support this viewpoint with 81% believing the AG made the right decision.

Conversely, 39% of Americans think the administration made the wrong decision. Opponents have claimed that terror suspects should be treated as war criminals and as such prosecuted by military commission. Many have also argued that they should not be afforded the rights of US citizens, which is guaranteed in a civilian court. In perfect symmetry to the Democrats, 81% of Republicans oppose the decision to prosecute Mohammed in New York.

In a reflection of the overall results, Independents broke 51% to 39% in favor of the AG’s decision.

PoliticsHome interviewed 1,334 American voters by email from November 13 to November 16. The results are weighted to represent the United States politically.

-  ENDS -

Leave a comment...

wolfie

These polls are starting to look awfully fishy.  Especially when the weighting factors are not published.

Rick

Ask any terrorist, radical Muslim, Palestinian & I believe they will tell you it IS a war. Soooo.....let the military handle it, as they should. Politicians seem to mess things up, not help things.

T. Paine

Hi Rick,

"let the military handle it" Oh yes, the military has done such a wonderful job in Iraq and Afghanistan: hundreds of billions spent to kill hundreds of thousands of people and to create two corrupt governments that will not last two years without our continued military and financial backing. I can't imagine why the people of Iraq and Afghanistan don't embrace our military and apply for membership as the 51st and 52nd state.

Oh yes, let's continue to treat a specialized criminal activity like a "war on terror" and play into the hands of the murderous, religious fundamentalist, criminals that perpetrated 9/11 and other such acts. Great plan!

Worried

T. Paine,

We need people like you to be our first line of defense in the war on terror. You can bend over and put your head in the sand. That ought to slow them down. Now that is a great plan!

KC
  • 00:51 |
  • 24 Nov 2009
  • 0

Worried.

You're telling me that the war in Iraq was a fantastic idea???!!! NOT. It killed more US military than 9-11 put together. Fight terrorism?? or win it over, we never will. Its always been there and it always will be there. For what we did in Iraq we have never been paid back with oil. Now China, which they own us now says we are spending too much money and its been mainly on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Heck, if we keep this up the draft will have to start again, because we have lost too many lives! So Worried, I would say you have to get YOUR head out of the sand and take a good look at reality!

Worried
  • 01:20 |
  • 24 Nov 2009
  • 0

Hey KC,

 I agree with most of what you say. There is nothing  in those countries worthy of losing even one American life. By the way, I do have my head out of the sand and I  stick with my recommendation. Can you imagine having a bunch of "A.. Holes" as our first line of defense? Works for me!

John Slusarick
  • 00:51 |
  • 18 Nov 2009
  • 0

I simply cannot believe that this is a correctly weighted response.  Suggest you begin showing the weighting factors so your results can be more believable.  This is not the first poll in recent weeks to be suspect!

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