… But these findings together indicate public opinion is not a backstop preventing the United States from torturing. Instead, mass opinion on torture is malleable and conditional. Support for torture in the early 2000s indicates that, in times of perceived security threat, people are more supportive. Unfortunately, those are exactly […] Read more »
Americans Have Taken Ownership of the CIA’s Interrogation Program
Asked about the CIA’s post-9/11 interrogation program, former Vice President Dick Cheney replied, “I’d do it again in a minute.” Many opponents of the program regard him as the relic of a time in which the United States was caught up in a national security panic. They are wrong: even […] Read more »
Six in 10 See CIA Actions as Justified As Many Question Committee Report
Six in 10 Americans say the CIA’s treatment of suspected terrorists was justified, more than half think it produced important, unique intelligence – and 52 percent say it was wrong for the Senate Intelligence Committee to issue a report suggesting otherwise. Those results in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll […] Read more »
Majority of Americans Believe CIA’s Harsh Interrogation Tactics Were Acceptable
A majority of Americans believe the harsh interrogation practices the Central Intelligence Agency used after the 9/11 terrorist attacks were acceptable under the circumstances, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. CONT. Mark Murray, NBC News Read more »
About Half See CIA Interrogation Methods as Justified
Following the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogation practices in the period following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 51% of the public says they think the CIA methods were justified, compared with just 29% who say they were not justified; 20% do not express an opinion. CONT. Pew Read more »
Most Americans consider waterboarding to be torture
In the wake of last week’s release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation program, 69 percent of Americans consider waterboarding to be torture, but 49 percent think aggressive interrogation tactics like waterboarding are sometimes justified. 36 percent think they are not justified. CONT. CBS […] Read more »