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60% of Americans think the U.S. is on the wrong track

By Mike Wereschagin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, August 6, 2006


More than another terrorist attack or Iran's nuclear ambitions or the price of gas, Dorothy Hout worries about her grandson.
Hout, 82, of Nashville, Tenn., said her grandson pilots a C-5 cargo plane for the U.S. Air Force, ferrying equipment and supplies to troops in Baghdad. Since he graduated from the Air Force Academy five years ago, the United States was attacked by terrorists and has fought two wars.

"You never know where he might be sent now," Hout said.

Fear for her grandson is the main reason Hout is among 60 percent of people who believe the country is on the wrong track, according to a nationwide poll conducted for the Tribune-Review by Susquehanna Polling and Research. The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, measured attitudes about domestic and foreign issues nearly five years after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Five years into the war on terrorism, Americans are turning inward, said James Lee, president of the polling firm.

Fifty-six percent of respondents said they take more notice of people from foreign countries than they did before the attacks. About 71 percent believe illegal immigration threatens the United States, and 31 percent believe terrorism is the biggest threat posed by illegal immigration. Twenty-three percent said the effect on the economy and wages is the greatest threat from illegal immigrants.

About 24 percent of respondents said the war in Iraq is the top problem facing the country, according to the poll. Only about 10 percent listed terrorism/national security as the country's biggest problem, ranking near the 11 percent who cited the economy as the top concern.

John Jakubiac, of Beechview, still worries about terrorism and homeland security, but "not on an everyday basis."

"Things could be better for the common worker at this point," said Jakubiac, 54. He said he thinks Congress has focused too much on cutting taxes for the wealthy while not paying enough attention to the increasing costs of health care and gas or the decline of traditional pension plans. "It seems like benefits are being taken away."

Terrorism "has really fallen off the radar at the national level because we haven't had an attack" since 2001, Lee said. "Until there's a national security crisis that's at the forefront of people's minds, it seems to take a back seat."

Thirty-eight percent said the United States is more secure than it was before the terrorist attack, while 58 percent said the country's security situation is the same or worse. A bare majority -- 52 percent -- believe the war in Iraq made the country less safe, compared to 33 percent who said it has made the United States safer and 10 percent who don't think it had an effect on national security, according to the poll.

The poll also showed sharp partisan divides on security issues. For instance, 64 percent of Republicans think the country is more secure than it was on Sept. 11, while 20 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Independents feel the same, according to the poll.

"Most Americans don't believe we're safer today," Lee said. "That has to be the most problematic thing for Republicans running for Congress in November."

But people don't blame Republicans for everything, he said. By a margin of 55 percent to 36 percent, people believe the news media's decision to publish stories about wiretaps and other secret programs begun by the Bush administration hurt the country's security.

"That opens an opportunity for the Bush team," Lee said. "I think there's a sense that some things that are happening in the country aren't Bush's fault."

One victory that could sway opinion would be the capture of Osama bin Laden, said Jim Burt, 38, of Salt Lake City. He's among the 44 percent disappointed in the government's pursuit of the al-Qaida leader.

"I was against the Iraq war because I thought we were going after Osama bin Laden," Burt said.

Now, however, Burt opposes setting a timetable for withdrawal. He's part of the 44 percent who believe the U.S. military should let circumstances in Iraq dictate when American troops can leave the country. Eighteen percent favor an immediate withdrawal, while 32 percent favor setting a timetable to pull out of the country, according to the poll.

"I think we should stay there until they can become stable," Burt said. "I think we should have a military presence there, since basically, we started it, so we've got to end it."

Five years into the war on terror, most people's views have solidified, Lee said.

"I think that the country is growing weary of the kind of war we're fighting and (wary of) whether it does, at the end of the day, yield the results the Bush Administration thinks it should," Lee said.

Americans are used to the sort of tangible, dramatic battlefield victories rarely achieved in a war against terrorists, Lee said.

"It puts us in an awkward position, and we really have to reassess what our expectations should be as we defend our country and try to stabilize the Middle East," he said.


Mike Wereschagin can be reached at mwereschagin@tribweb.com or (412) 391-0927.