51% believe the interrogation practices the CIA used during the Bush era were acceptable under the circumstances
45% say such interrogation practices are acceptable to be used in the future
DECEMBER 16, 2014— A majority of Americans believe the harsh interrogation practices the Central Intelligence Agency used after the 9/11 terrorist attacks were acceptable under the circumstances, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
In the poll, 51 percent say the interrogation practices used during the Bush Era were acceptable, while 28 percent say they went too far and were wrong. In addition, 45 percent think they should be used in the future, versus 28 percent who disagree.
The rest of the NBC/WSJ poll — which was conducted Dec. 10-14 — will be released on Wednesday morning.
Political analysis available here: http://nbcnews.to/1GM7Dg3
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Majority of Americans Believe CIA’s Harsh Interrogation Tactics Were Acceptable
By Mark Murray, NBC News
A majority of Americans believe the harsh interrogation practices the Central Intelligence Agency used after the 9/11 terrorist attacks were acceptable under the circumstances, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
And a plurality say they’d be acceptable to use in the future to thwart potential terrorist threats.
In the poll, 51 percent say the interrogation practices used during the Bush Era were acceptable, while 28 percent say they went too far and were wrong.
In addition, 45 percent think they should be used in the future, versus 28 percent who disagree.
These numbers come after the Democratic-led Senate Intelligence Committee released a report detailing the harsh interrogation practices, and after Republicans defended them.
“I have no problem as long as we achieve our objective. And our objective is to get the guys who did 9/11 and it is to avoid another attack against the United States,” former Vice President Dick Cheney told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” last Sunday. “I’d do it again in a minute.”
The numbers confirm other polling on the subject, and they reveal a partisan split.
Republicans (by an 80 percent-to-9 percent margin) overwhelmingly say the practices were acceptable, and so do political independents (44 percent to 24 percent).
But Democrats say they went too far (44 percent to 32 percent).
The rest of the NBC/WSJ poll — which was conducted Dec. 10-14 — will be released on Wednesday morning.
The margin of error for these two sets of questions is plus-minus 4.4 percentage points.
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Maggie Steenland
NBC News Communications | Maggie.steenland@nbcuni.com
212-664-7874
