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Tuesday 17th November 2009 | 09:53

Americans believe that the Army failed to act on the warning signs at Fort Hood

Voters also believe the suspect's religious beliefs are relevant in this case

Two weeks ago Army Major Nidal Hasan opened fire on an Army preparation center at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others. Since then it has emerged that there were several signs that Major Hasan may have become radicalized and a new poll reveals that 80% of Americans believe that the Army failed to act on these signs.

According to the latest PoliticsHome poll, 80% of American voters believe that the Army failed to act on several of the warning signs that Major Hasan was becoming radicalized. Republicans (86%), Democrats (75%) and Independents (80%) are united on this issue.

Media reports state that before he began firing Major Hasan shouted "Allahu Aqbar" - "God is great" in Arabic -  and that he had given lectures on how the Koran views suicide bombers as more just than US soldiers. We asked our panel of voters if they felt that the suspect’s religious beliefs were relevant or irrelevant in this case.

70% of voters believe that in this case the suspect’s religious beliefs are relevant, with a majority of Republicans (92%), Independents (72%) and Democrats (55%) in agreement on this issue. Only 21% of voters feel that the suspect’s religious beliefs are irrelevant in this case.

Since the shooting, there has been intense speculation over why the military may have failed to act. For some observers, the military was overburdened by political correctness. Still others argued that it is the Army medical system that is overburdened, and that political correctness is not the culprit.

For Americans the situation is not so clear cut. A plurality (41%) believe that the Army failed to act because of political correctness. However, 23% believe it was due to the Army medical system being overburdened. 22% believe it was a combination of both eqaully.

One leading commentator argued that the army and FBI did not act on warning signs because the political policy surrounding such issues is highly contentious; they simply did not know how or when to act when they received warnings about Major Hasan.

58% of voters agree with this statement, with Republicans (81%) and Independents (60%) in agreement on this issue. Democrats however are divided, with 41% agreeing, 27% disagreeing and 31% unsure.

Was this a terrorist act?

One of the most contentious issues surrounding the shootings at Fort Hood is whether or not the violence was simply a criminal act or a terrorist attack. It has divided politicians and political pundits and according to our latest poll, so it has divided the American people. 46% of voters view the Fort Hood shootings as a terrorist act, with the majority of Republicans (85%) of this opinion. The majority of Democrats (72%) are among the 43% of Americans who view the incident as a criminal act.

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

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