Note: Gallup did NOY use the word torture, but referred to torture by The BushSpeak term…”harsh interrogation.”
A new Gallup Poll finds 51% of Americans in favor and 42% opposed to an investigation into the use of harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects during the Bush administration.
In the disappointing part of the poll…
At the same time, 55% of Americans believe in retrospect that the use of the interrogation techniques was justified, while only 36% say it was not.
To gain a better understanding of how Americans feel about the matter, Gallup combined the results of the questions on whether the techniques were justified and whether the government should investigate. All told, the greatest number of Americans, 30%, seem to agree with Cheney’s position that the ends justified the means and that no investigation is necessary. Nearly as many (25%), though, would appear to side with many congressional Democrats who say the techniques should not have been used and an investigation is warranted. Twenty-three percent think the techniques were warranted yet still favor an investigation, while 10% think the methods should not have been used but nevertheless oppose an official inquiry.
The thing to take away from this, in my opinion, is that over half of America DOES want to see investigations.
Half of America does NOT want to “Move Forward”
Half of America does NOT want this swept under the rug.
half of America does NOT think investigations are a waste of time.
That to me, is damn good news.
Especially in light of the results showing that they watch too damn much “24” and STILL but Dick Cheney’s Bull.
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More than half – 51%.
Public Remains Divided on Torture
Poll conducted April 14-21 (N=742): (and they did use the word torture)
Q. Do you think the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information can often be justified, sometimes be justified, rarely be justified, or never be justified?
About half of respondents said torture was rarely or never justified (47%) and the other half said it was sometimes or often justified (49%). These numbers have remained fairly consistent going back through Nov 2007 – so the recent news hasn’t made an impact. In fact the trend from Feb to April 2009 is going the wrong direction. That’s very disappointing to me.