{"id":19197,"date":"2013-12-03T16:26:25","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T21:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/americans-divided-on-whether-drones-make-u-s-safer\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:44:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:44:41","slug":"americans-divided-on-whether-drones-make-u-s-safer","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/12\/03\/americans-divided-on-whether-drones-make-u-s-safer\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans divided on whether drones make U.S. safer"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dozen years after 9\/11 and the start of the war in Afghanistan, the public has mixed opinions about whether certain policies have made the U.S. safer from terrorism.<\/p>\n\n

\"USsafety123\"<\/figure>\n\n

A new survey of the general public \u2014 as part of the quadrennial America\u2019s Place in the World survey<\/a> conducted Oct. 30-Nov. 6 \u2014 asked whether government surveillance programs, the use of military drones and the war in Afghanistan have made the country safer.<\/p>\n\n

Of these three issues, Americans are most in agreement when it comes to military drones that target extremists in Pakistan and elsewhere. Among those we surveyed about these anti-terrorism policies, half say the policy has made the U.S. safer. Just 14% believe drones have made the U.S. less safe and 27% say they have not made a difference.<\/p>\n\n

This balance of opinion is largely consistent across partisan lines\u201455% of Republicans and 49% of Democrats say the program has made the country safer. Women are more skeptical than men about the impacts, with 57% of men saying this, compared with only 43% of women. (Internationally, however, the drone program is widely unpopular; at least half of the public disapproved in 31 of 39 nations surveyed this spring<\/a> by the Pew Research Center.)\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Americans are more divided on the impact of the war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001 and has resulted in more than 2,100 American deaths<\/a>. About three-in-ten (31%) believe the war has made the U.S. safer, while 43% say the war has not made a difference and two-in-ten (21%) say it has made the country less safe from terrorism.<\/p>\n\n

Democrats and Republicans disagree about the war\u2019s effect on the nation\u2019s safety. Among Republicans, 41% say it has made the U.S. safer and 17% think it has made the country less safe. But Democrats are less likely to believe that the U.S. is safer because of the war (27% safer vs. 23% less safe). Independents, too, are less optimistic than Republicans about the war\u2019s impact (28% safer, 21% less safe).<\/p>\n\n

The new survey also found divided views about the U.S. government\u2019s phone and internet surveillance programs. About as many Americans (39%) believe the surveillance has made the country safer as those who say it hasn\u2019t made a difference (38%). In this regard, Republicans, Democrats and independents are largely in agreement.<\/p>\n\n

Our surveys have shown that Americans\u2019 views about surveillance are complicated. Several months after Edward Snowden first leaked classified information about government surveillance programs, more than half of Americans (55%) say they think the disclosures have harmed the public interest; just one-third (34%) say they have served the public interest.<\/p>\n\n

But that\u2019s not to say that the public isn\u2019t concerned about the programs. By a margin of 44%-39%, more are concerned that the government\u2019s anti-terrorism policies have gone too far in restricting the average person\u2019s civil liberties than say the policies have not gone far enough to adequately protect the country.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A dozen years after 9\/11 and the start of the war in Afghanistan, the public has mixed opinions about whether certain policies have made the U.S. safer from terrorism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[96,410],"bylines":[754],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[499],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-19197","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-defense-national-security","category-rural-urban-suburban-communities","bylines-seth-motel","formats-short-read","regions-countries-afghanistan","research-teams-politics"],"label":"Short 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