Washington Post-ABC News Poll: Bush and Iraq
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 | | | | This Washington Post-ABC News poll questions were conducted by telephone May 20-23, 2004 among 1,005 randomly selected adults nationwide. The margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus three percentage points. Fieldwork by TNS of Horsham, Pa. It is part of a larger poll. *= less than 0.5 percent 27. On another subject, some people say (it's acceptable to torture people suspected of terrorism, in cases where other methods have failed and the authorities believe the suspect has information that could prevent terrorist attacks and save lives.) Other people say (the use of torture is never acceptable because it's cruel, it may violate international law, it may not work, and it could be used unnecessarily or by mistake on innocent people.) What's your view - do you think (it's acceptable to torture people suspected of terrorism in some cases), or do you think (the use of torture is never acceptable)? Torture is Torture is No
acceptable in some cases never acceptable opinion
5/23/04 35 63 1 28. What about physical abuse that falls short of torture? Do you think (it's acceptable to physically abuse but not torture people suspected of terrorism in some cases), or do you think (the use of physical abuse is never acceptable)? Physical abuse is Physical abuse is No
acceptable in some cases never acceptable opinion
5/23/04 46 52 2 28a. What about people who are suspected of involvement in recent attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq or Afghanistan? Do you think torture is acceptable or unacceptable in some of those cases? Yes, torture is No, torture is not No
acceptable in those cases acceptable in those cases opinion
5/23/04 34 64 2 28b. Again, thinking about people who are suspected of involvement in recent attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq or Afghanistan, do you think physical abuse that falls short of torture is acceptable or unacceptable in some of those cases? Yes, physical abuse is No, physical abuse is not No
acceptable in those cases acceptable in those cases opinion
5/23/04 45 53 2 29. Just your best guess, do you think the U.S. government as a matter of policy is or is not using torture as part of the U.S. campaign against terrorism? Is using torture Is not using torture No opinion
5/23/04 51 43 6 30. Just your best guess, do you think the U.S. government as a matter of policy is or is not using physical abuse that falls short of torture as part of the U.S. campaign against terrorism? Is using Is not using No
physical abuse physical abuse opinion
5/23/04 66 29 5 31. As part of the U.S. campaign against terrorism, please tell me if you think each item I name is acceptable in some cases as a method of getting information from prisoners, or is unacceptable in all cases. 5/23/04 - Summary Table* Acceptable Unacceptable No op.
a. Not allowing the suspect to sleep 66 33 1
b. Withholding food and water 38 61 1
c. Threatening to harm the suspect's
family members 19 80 *
d. Applying electric shocks to
the suspect 17 82 2
e. Making the suspect go naked 25 74 1
f. Bombarding the suspect with loud
noise for long periods of time 54 45 1
g. Holding the suspect's head under
water 21 78 1
h. Threatening to shoot the suspect 41 57 2
i. Keeping a hood over the suspect's
head for long periods of time 57 42 1
j. Sexually humiliating the suspect 16 84 1
k. Exposing the suspect to extreme
heat or cold 40 58 2
l. Punching or kicking the suspect 29 69 2
*One-third sample asked items a-d, another one-third asked e-h,
another one-third asked i-l.
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