January 27, 2006

The New York Times > Washington > Image > Public Sentiment on Eavesdropping

The New York Times > Washington > Image > Public Sentiment on Eavesdropping

The poll suggests a mix of views, but people generally support Bush's NSA terrorist surveillance program. The perceived loss of civil liberties is 'noise' in the system, mostly a rallying point for libertarians, liberals and most of the media.

"In a sign that public opinion about the trade-offs between national security and individual rights is nuanced and remains highly unresolved, responses to questions about the administration's eavesdropping program varied significantly depending on how the questions were worded, underlining the importance of the effort by the White House this week to define the issue on its terms.

The poll, conducted as President Bush defended his surveillance program in the face of criticism from Democrats and some Republicans that it is illegal, found that Americans were willing to give the administration some latitude for its surveillance program if they believed it was intended to protect them. Fifty-three percent of the respondents said they supported eavesdropping without warrants "in order to reduce the threat of terrorism."

The results suggest that Americans' view of the program depends in large part on whether they perceive it as a bulwark in the fight against terrorism, as Mr. Bush has sought to cast it, or as an unnecessary and unwarranted infringement on civil liberties, as critics have said."

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