The FINANCIAL — More Americans than ever believe the nation has changed for the worse since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but most also still think the world would be a better place if more countries were like the United States.
Two-out-of-three adults (66%) say America has changed for the worse since 9/11, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 18% believe the country is a better place today, while six percent (6%) think it hasn’t changed. Eleven percent (11%) aren’t sure.
In October 2001, a month after the attacks, 57% believed America had changed for the better. In January 2002, 61% felt that way. But sentiments have been shifting in the opposite direction ever since. In May, just after the killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, just 21% said America has changed for the better, while 57% thought the change has been for the worse.
Still, 53% of Americans believe the world would be better off if other countries became more like this one, consistent with findings in recent years but down from 71% in the fall of 2002. Only 18% feel that the world would be worse off if other nations emulated the United States. But a sizable 30% are undecided.
While radical Muslims were the perpetrators of the 9/11 sneak attacks, most Americans (55%) do not believe Muslims in this country have been treated unfairly over the past 10 years. Twenty-eight percent (28%) think Muslims in America have been treated unfairly, while another 16% are not sure.
In March as a House committee was holding hearings on the threat of domestic terrorism, just 17% of Likely U.S. Voters felt that Muslims living in this country were being treated unfairly because of their religion and ethnicity, even though only 10% believed these Muslims were speaking out enough against potential terrorist attacks in the United States.
The national survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on September 7-8, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Thirty-eight percent (38%) of Americans think many Americans have already forgotten the impact of the terrorist attacks a decade ago, down from 44% a year ago. Forty-seven percent (47%) disagree, but 16% more are not sure.
Today on The Rasmussen Report Radio Show, Scott Rasmussen interviews a young woman who was on the 64th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the planes hit. Tune in at 3:06 pm Eastern on Sunday on WLS 890AM in Chicago, WMAL 630AM in Washington, and online everywhere.
Just under one-in-three Americans (32%) plan to attend a special ceremony to commemorate 9/11. Fifty-six percent (56%) do not plan to attend such an event, while 12% are still undecided.
Americans are more confident since bin Laden’s death that his al Qaeda terrorist group is weaker than it was before 9/11, but 61% still believe it at least somewhat likely that an attack similar to 9/11 could occur within the next 10 years, including 29% who see it as Very Likely.
Men feel more strongly than women that America has changed for the worse since 9/11. Younger adults believe that more strongly than their elders. Men and younger adults are also more likely to think many Americans have forgotten the impact of the 9/11 attacks.
Republicans believe more strongly than Democrats and adults not affiliated with either of the major parties that the world would be a better place if more countries were like the United States.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of Democrats think Muslims in this country have been treated unfairly since the events of September 2001. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliated adults reject that premise.
Confidence in the course of the War on Terror surged following the killing of bin Laden but has since been falling back. Forty-four percent (44%) of voters now say the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. Fifteen percent (15%) believe the terrorists are winning that war, while 31% say neither is winning.
www.rasmussenreports.com
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