Five Years Later, Americans Turn Skeptic

^{This is the third in a series of articles reflecting on the state of America since 11 September 2001.}

Five years ago, immediately after 9-11, American support for how the Bush Administration was responding to terrorism was nothing short of extraordinary. Today, support has plummeted, and more than a third of Americans believe their government was complicit in the events of that day.

According to an ABC news poll, in October 2001, 92% of us approved "of the way Bush is handling the U.S. campaign against terrorism." Today, that number has dropped to 53%. The numbers mirror those in a CBS and a Gallup poll.

In October 2001, 71% of us believed "the United States is doing all it reasonably can do to try to prevent further terrorist attacks." Today? Only 38%. And one-in-three of us believe we are less safe from a terrorist attack than we were five years ago. (ME, +- 3%)

Increasingly, Americans are skeptical of the official story of 9-11.

What Really Happened?
The 9-11 Commission was supposed to get to the truth of the matter, not unlike the Warren Commission after the John F. Kennedy assassination. Neither succeeded.

According to a May Zogby survey, 42% of us believe the government concealed evidence contradicting official accounts of the events of that day, and 45% believe there should be another investigation.

This is not unlike American attitudes towards the Warren Commission investigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. There have been two subsequent federal investigations and countless books, articles and movies on the subject.

According to an August Scripps Howard-Ohio University survey, 36% of us believe it is "very or somewhat likely that federal officials either participated in or allowed the attacks to happen to justify war in the Middle East."

Partisan Divide
In it latest poll, Zogby finds that 46% of Americans believe Saddam Hussein was involved in 9-11. Two-thirds of the Republicans polled believe that there is a link.

The 9-11 Commission found no link.

And a Senate report released Friday concluded that there is "no credible information that Iraq was complicit in or had foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks or any other al Qaeda strikes."

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^{Category: Terrorism}