Confidence in how the United States is doing in the War on Terror has fallen to its lowest level this year.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 47 percent of Likely U.S. Voters now think the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. That's down from 51 percent last month and the lowest finding since November. Fifteen percent say the terrorists are winning. Twenty-nine percent feel neither side is ahead, also the highest finding since November.
Leading up to the killing of Osama bin Laden in May of last year, voter belief that the United States and its allies were winning the War on Terror was in the high 30s to mid 40s. Following bin Laden’s death, that number surged into the 50s and has generally been in the high 40s and low 50s ever since.
Forty-six percent of voters now believe the United States is safer than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. That's consistent with findings in recent months but down slightly from the level of optimism found following bin Laden's killing. Thirty percent do not feel America is safer now, and another 24 percent are not sure.
However, the number who says the situation in Afghanistan will worsen over the next six months is down to its lowest level since May 2011. Just 31 percent expect the situation in Afghanistan to get worse, down from 39 percent last month. Eighteen percent expect it to get better, and 39 percent expect the situation to stay about the same, the highest finding to date.
Optimism about the short-term situation in Afghanistan jumped to a high of 27 percent following bin Laden’s death but has generally hovered around 20 percent since then.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 9-10, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.
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