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Most, 56 percent, do support a congressional investigation of how the administration handled pre-Sept. 11 intelligence. But most in this ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll also accept the administration's position that the warnings were too vague to act upon. And George W. Bush's job approval rating stands tall, at 76 percent.

Concern Growing Over Further Attacks

Most striking is the concern about further attacks. The night of Sept. 11, 66 percent of Americans expressed confidence that the government could prevent terrorist attacks in the future. Today just 46 percent say so, while the number who lack such confidence has risen by 20 points, to 52 percent.

One striking finding is the public's concern about further attacks.

Several factors likely contribute to this change, including a better understanding of the nature of the threat, repeated warnings of further attacks — most recently Dick Cheney's on Sunday — difficulties in capturing al Qaeda leaders and rising tensions in the Mideast.

More potentially hazardous for the administration is a decline in the number of Americans who say the United States is doing all it reasonably can to prevent more attacks. Fifty-four percent say so, down from a high of 66 percent in March, when U.S. military action against al Qaeda in Afghanistan was more intense.

This measure is key because it represents the bottom line in public interest — the best possible government efforts to prevent a recurrence of terrorist attacks.

Public Split on Pre-Sept. 11 Follow-Up

While concerns about future attacks are up, second-guessing about the past is down. Despite the dispute over pre-Sept. 11 intelligence, the number of Americans who say the government "could have done more" to try to prevent those attacks has declined, from 65 percent at the time to 53 percent now.

The public divides evenly on whether the administration did enough to follow up on pre-Sept. 11 threats. And 50 percent say the FBI was negligent in failing to follow up on an agent's proposed investigation of Arabs enrolled in U.S. flight-training schools.

But 56 percent also believe the pre-Sept. 11 threats were "too vague for the government to know what action to take," as administration officials maintain. (Far fewer, 32 percent, think the threats were detailed enough to warrant specific action.) And 82 percent believe the administration is now doing a better job handling such intelligence.

Pre-Sept. 11 terrorist threats were:
Detailed enough to take action	32%
Too vague to know what to do	56%

As noted, 56 percent favor a congressional investigation into what the administration knew about terrorist threats and how it handled that intelligence. But at the same time, Americans divide evenly on whether the administration should make that intelligence information public.

Bush’s Job Approval Rating

Bush's job approval rating soared from 55 percent Sept. 9 to a high of 92 percent on Oct. 9, a record for any modern president. Since then it's declined gradually, to 76 percent in this poll — still three points above Ronald Reagan's highest.

Bush's overall rating has been fueled specifically by his handling of the U.S. response to terrorism, making a decline inevitable as other issues return to the public's agenda. What's remarkable is how long his high ratings have lasted — longer than the crisis-inspired ratings of any previous president, in polls that date to World War II.

Another positive sign for Bush is that his "strong" support has stabilized. The number of Americans who approve strongly of his work in office had fallen from a peak of 76 percent last October to 47 percent last month. This month it's 48 percent — the first time since November it hasn't slipped.

Bush's direct ratings for handling the U.S. campaign against terrorism are similar — 79 percent approve, and 51 percent approve strongly.

Partisan Differences

There are substantial partisan differences in many of the issues measured in this poll. Bush receives almost unanimous approval from Republicans for his job performance — 98 percent — compared to 75 percent among independents and 61 percent among Democrats. His "strong" support is lowest by far among Democrats.

There's even more of a partisan difference on whether the administration did enough to follow up on pre-Sept. 11 intelligence: Democrats say no by a 2-1 margin, 61-30 percent; Republicans say yes by more than 2-1, 67-26 percent. (Independents divide evenly.) And Republicans are 30 points more likely than Democrats to accept the administration's position that the threats were too vague to warrant specific action.

Even among Americans who say the administration could have done more to follow up, however, 61 percent still approve of Bush's overall performance as president.

In another partisan split, Republicans are much more likely to express confidence in the government's ability to prevent further terrorism — 62 percent of Republicans do so, compared to 39 percent of Democrats and independents alike. And Republicans are 21 points more apt than Democrats to say the government is doing all it can to prevent future attacks.

Finally, 68 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of independents support a congressional inquiry into the administration's handling of intelligence last summer. Just 37 percent of Republicans agree.

Methodology

This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone May 18-19, 2002, among a random national sample of 803 adults. The results have a 3.5-point error margin. Fieldwork by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our PollVault