Poll: Narrow Majority Favors Investigation Of "Harsh Interrogation Techniques"
A new Gallup poll finds that a narrow majority of Americans favor investigations of interrogation methods -- though it's not a resounding mandate, relative to other issues.
The question as asked is: "Would you favor or oppose a government investigation into the use of harsh interrogation techniques of terrorism suspects?" The result is 51% in favor to 42% against. From the pollster's analysis:
While a slim majority favors an investigation, on a relative basis the percentage is quite low because Americans are generally quite supportive of government probes into potential misconduct by public officials. In recent years, for example, Americans were far more likely to favor investigations into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys (72%), government databases of telephone numbers dialed by Americans (62%), oil company profits (82%), and the government's response to Hurricane Katrina (70%).
Another question finds 55% of respondents saying that "harsh interrogation techniques" were justified for terrorism suspects, compared to 36% against.
It's interesting to consider that this poll used the phrase "harsh interrogation techniques" instead of the much simpler "torture," and how this can possibly affect a result. The ABC/Washington Post poll, which found a similar number for investigations of "the way terrorism suspects were treated," also had only a near-even split on whether "torture" was justified.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Yes, "torture" is a much simpler word than "harsh interrogation techniques".
What's also interesting is the routine use of the phrase "terrorism suspects" in the questions.
What would the response pattern be if the question were:
Would you approve or disapprove of an investigation into the torture of suspects held by the government?
I would imagine the pattern would change. People appear to think that torture is ok when it's terrorists who are being tortured (excuse me: harshly interrogated) and it provides "good" information. How sad.
April 27, 2009 5:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent points!
April 27, 2009 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eric: I'm confused about meaning of last paragraph -- are you saying that the ABC/Washington Post poll did use the term "torture" in its question and still got about a half and half split?
Or are you saying that they also avoided the reality-based word and got a half & half split with a euphemism?
Another thought about the wording of the question, a la CT Voter's comments. Even with the combo of avoiding "torture" but including "terrorism," 51% favored an investigation. I think that's impressive since the question simultaneously scared the respondent about threats to safety, while reassuring them that nothing too terrible happened to those being interrogated.
April 27, 2009 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
msnbc's first read blog today kept referring to it as "harsh interrogation" instead of torture. it appears folks in the media are afraid to use the "t" word...
April 27, 2009 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point-- The entire Gallup poll uses the term "Harsh Interrogation"
I wonder what the results would have been if they had simply used the word "Torture".
April 27, 2009 6:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
The question is a biased question.
April 27, 2009 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am thrilled to see that the majority of Americans are now hard-left. Because we all know since we all believe what we're told by the MSM that only the hard-left opposes torture.
April 27, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
When are the pictures due out? First the memos got everybody talking, even FOX, then they do a poll. What happens after the atrocities are right before the nation just like Abu Ghraib?
Couldn't be better if it had been orchestrated. Hmm.
April 27, 2009 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since when is 51-42 "narrow"??
Or is the '42' a typo? WaPo reports 51-47 on the similar question.
April 27, 2009 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not a typo... the Gallup page says 51-42
April 27, 2009 6:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
The problem with this poll is that if you do the math... when Gallup asks the question under party affiliation and and you revert that back to "all Americans" it assumes an equal selection from each party.
1/3 Dem. 1/3 Ind. 1/3 Rep.
Now if it's to be believed that recent polling by Pew and others is correct that people who identify themselves as Republican is only in low 20's...
Then the Gallup poll skews these results toward the Republican point of view.
April 27, 2009 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
where does it "assume" that?
April 27, 2009 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
It does not matter about the polls. When I was a child, the overwhelming majority of people thought that black people should go to "their own separate but equal schools." Black people should not be able to marry white people (or the reverse).
What is right is right, and if it takes a generation or two of evolutionary thought to get where we are, then so be it.
Funny that the idea of torture was repugnant (and a war crime) during WWII when WE weren't doing it. Now the criterion is:
DOES IT WORK?
What a disgusting legacy the Bush regime has left us.
April 27, 2009 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent comment! Well done!
April 27, 2009 8:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think anyone's suggesting that we go ahead and torture if a majority of Americans agree. But it would be helpful in getting an investigation started if there was a groundswell of public opinion to support it.
Actually, 51% is not a bad base to start with. As more info comes in, including the pix, that should rise.
April 27, 2009 8:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Really? You don't think anyone is suggesting that torture works? This is just one minor example:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/24/pat-buchanan-hiroshima-ma_n_191298.html
Or many more defenses ala Bill Kristol: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/17/fox-news-defends-torture/
The point IS NOT THAT TORTURE WORKS! It was used during every disgusting regime in history; we have decided as a people that it is illegal and wrong. If we cannot be the voice for reason, who will be?
April 27, 2009 8:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is sad. Americans overwhelmingly wanted a special prosecutor to investigate White Water, Travel Gate and Sex gate but don't CARE if we TORTURED people which in the long run could end up hurting our own SOLDIERS and MARINES?
This is pathetic!
April 27, 2009 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
51 to 42 is not narrow. It's a landslide by presidential election standards, for instance. I would bet this is a fairly politicized issue, unlike some others they cited. So the 42% is basically conservatives who voted for Bush.
Second, the flaw in these results was pointed out by On the Media about Gallup's distortion of Americans' support of the Iraq war -- most of the people interviewed have no knowledge or opinion of the subject of the poll, but they are pressed for an answer:
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/09/05/02
April 27, 2009 8:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
538 has a post about these polls. Its quite good as usual from 538.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/04/explaining-torture-polling.html
April 28, 2009 8:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know what it was all really about, don't you? All this talk about "ticking time bomb" scenarios was baloney. This was all about Cheney's sick fascination with a "modern" kind of torture. It was all a big experiment, Clockwork Orange style. The two sadistic military psychologists who brought Cheney this new torture plan were enamored of a form of mind-control called "learned helplessness."
Here the goal wasn't to torture a guy until he answered a specific question. No. The goal was to torture a guy without even bothering with questions, over and over, for extended periods of time, until he was finally "broken." Only at that point would the questions begin, and he'd tell you anything you wanted to hear.
That's why KSM and Zubaydah were waterboarded an absurd 266 times between them, and why Jose Padilla was so broken by the time his case came up for trial that he was judged incapable of comprehending the case against him.
There is no other explanation for what happened to these people that makes any sense whatsoever. And the damage done to these detainees from these kinds of "learned helplessness" experiments is nearly always permanent.
They love Big Brother now.
April 28, 2009 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink