Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Pew Research Center — About Half See CIA Interrogation Methods as Justified

Following the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogation practices in the period following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 51% of the public says they think the CIA methods were justified, compared with just 29% who say they were not justified; 20% do not express an opinion. 
The new national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Dec. 11-14 among 1,001 adults, finds that amid competing claims over the effectiveness of CIA interrogation methods, 56% believe they provided intelligence that helped prevent terrorist attacks, while just half as many (28%) say they did not provide this type of intelligence.…
Overall, the public expresses the most doubt not about the CIA methods and program itself, but about the Senate committee’s decision to release its report: as many call the decision to publicly release the findings the wrong decision (43%) as the right decision (42%).
Pew Research Center

2 comments:

Peter Pan said...

But the intelligence gathered was useless! Disutilitarian.

Tom Hickey said...

Most people have fallen for the line that enhanced interrogation made them safer. Many of these people also still believe that Saddam had WMD and was allied with Osama Bin Laden. Fear does remarkable things psychologically, which is why fear-mongering is so effective at shaping public opinion politically.