Although it remains substantial, support for military action in the wake of last September's attacks on New York and the Pentagon is declining as public backing grows for more home-front security programs aimed at preventing future attacks, according to a new poll.

The public also is skeptical about President Bush's push for war to unseat Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, with only a third thinking the president's explanations have been adequate.

The Washington-based Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released its survey Wednesday, noting that many of the most dramatic public reactions to the events of Sept. 11 "have slowly faded." Almost half the respondents in the poll said their lives were basically unchanged by the event, although they acknowledged the attack had a tremendous impact on the nation.

"In the year since the attacks, the public's assessments of the government's anti-terrorism efforts have steadily declined. The percentage of Americans who rate the government's homeland defense program as excellent or good has fallen from a peak of 69 percent in October to 57 percent in the current survey," the analysis of the polling results said.

"Increasingly, Americans want the government to focus on homeland defense rather than rooting out terrorist networks abroad. . . . Just 3 in 10 rate military action as most important, while half give greater priority to homeland defense."

Shortly after the attack, 44 percent thought taking military action should get a higher priority. Home defense won the support of just 33 percent.

A full 97 percent of the respondents in the poll, which questioned 1,001 people around the nation, 401 more in New York and another 400 in Washington last month, said they could remember the specific details of their lives when hijacked planes destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center and one facade of the Pentagon on Sept. 11.

But the numbers reflecting support for Bush and the war on terrorism in the weeks immediately after the attacks are in decline. The president's job approval rating stands at 60 percent, the poll said, just 9 percentage points above his approval rating before the attacks.

The survey found that just 15 percent of the people believe the war on terror in Afghanistan has been a success, while almost the same amount, 12 percent, view it as a failure. Seventy percent said it was just too early to say whether the war effort has achieved its goal.

The number of people who are willing to give up personal civil liberties in the campaign against terrorism also is declining. Shortly after the attacks, the survey noted, 70 percent of respondents supported national identity cards. That number declined to 59 percent in the new survey, which was completed in August.

The Pew survey said it found two profound changes that occurred in the wake of the Sept. 11. The public continues to support military force in the war on terrorism and it believes the U.S. should take an active role in the world as a way of preventing future terrorist attacks.

Nearly 6 in 10 people support taking military action against countries that seek to develop nuclear weapons.

On the question of Iraq, though, the poll indicates Bush has failed to clearly present a case that has swayed a majority of the public on the need for military action. In 1990, about half of all Americans thought then-President George Bush had clearly explained the rationale for sending troops into Operation Desert Storm. Just 37 percent say his son has clearly explained why the U.S. should try to end Saddam Hussein's rule.

Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune

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