Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
October 14, 2006
Abstract: – Many adults in the United States believe the current federal government
has not been completely forthcoming on the issue of the 9/11 terrorist attacks,
according to a poll by the New York Times and CBS News. 53 per cent of respondents
think the Bush administration is hiding something, and 28 per cent believe it
is lying.
Many adults in the United States believe the current federal government has
not been completely forthcoming on the issue of the 9/11 terrorist attacks,
according to a poll by the New York Times and CBS News. 53 per cent of respondents
think the Bush administration is hiding something, and 28 per cent believe it
is lying.
Only 16 per cent of respondents say the government headed by U.S. president
George W. Bush is telling the truth on what it knew prior to the terrorist attacks,
down five points since May 2002.
Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes in the U.S. on Sept.
11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people. In October, after Afghanistan’s Taliban
regime refused to hand over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the U.S. launched
the war on terrorism.
On Aug. 6, 2001, a Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined
to Strike in U.S." mentioned "patterns of suspicious activity in this
country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks,
including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York."
On May 17, 2002, Bush discussed the situation, saying, "The American people
know this about me, and my national security team, and my administration: Had
I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning,
I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people."
On Sept. 11, Bush referred to the attacks, saying, "Five years after 9/11,
our enemies have not succeeded in launching another attack on our soil, but
they’ve not been idle. Al-Qaeda and those inspired by its hateful ideology have
carried out terrorist attacks in more than two dozen nations. And just last
month, they were foiled in a plot to blow up passenger planes headed for the
United States. They remain determined to attack America and kill our citizens—and
we are determined to stop them."
Polling Data
When it comes to what they knew prior to September 11th, 2001, about possible
terrorist attacks against the United States, do you think members of the Bush
Administration are telling the truth, are mostly telling the truth but hiding
something, or are they mostly lying?
| October 2006 | May 2002 | |
| Telling the truth | 16% | 21% |
| Hiding something | 53% | 65% |
| Mostly lying | 28% | 8% |
| Not sure | 3% | 6% |
Source: The New York Times / CBS News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 983 American adults, conducted from Oct.
5 to Oct. 8, 2006. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
Source URL: http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/13469