More Americans think the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US changed the nation for the worse, as the 20th anniversary of the tragic day approaches.
Close to half, 46%, of Americans in a poll released on Wednesday said the country has changed for the worse since the attacks, while only 33% said it has changed for the better. An overwhelming majority, 86%, said the attack changed the US in lasting way, according to the Washington Post-ABC News survey.
The results, revealed nearly two decades after the attacks on New York City, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon, differ greatly from a poll that was conducted a year after the day. In 2002, 67% of Americans surveyed said 9/11 changed the nation for the better.
Among respondents in the latest poll, 49% said the US is safer from terror attacks now than prior to 9/11, while 41% said the country is not safer after the attacks. In regards to the same question, 57% of Democratic respondents said the US was safer before 9/11, while 54% of Republicans said it is not as safe. Meanwhile, 52% of independents said the nation is safer now than before the attacks.
The poll also asked participants to opine on the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan. All US troops were withdrawn by President Joe Biden by the August 31 deadline agreed upon with the Taliban, which swiftly gained control of the Afghanistan. The majority of respondents, 54%, said the war was not worth fighting, versus 36% who said it was.
In addition, the poll asked respondents about the affect that the coronavirus pandemic has had on the US. A whopping 82% of Americans said Covid-19 will bring lasting change to the country. Half said the US will be changed for the worse, versus 21% who said it will be changed for the better.
The survey was conducted from August 29 to September 1 and included 1,006 American adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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