September 11, 2002	Wednesday	Rajab 3, 1423

WASHINGTON, Sept 10: On the first anniversary of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, most Americans feel vulnerable and believe that their country would be the target of another major attack in the next few months, says a survey report released on Monday.

The poll, conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, also showed uncertainty about the direction of the country, the prospect of war with Iraq and President Bush’s leadership.

The report says that a large number of Americans believe that things will not return to normal in the near future but approved the US military action against the Taliban and Al Qaeda saying that the offensive has brought positive changes.

The poll, conducted by Democratic pollster Peter Hart and Republican pollster Robert Teeter between Tuesday and Thursday, contacted 1,011 Americans for responses on a wide range of issues, domestic and foreign.

“They basically are concerned about Iraq, they’re concerned about the economy and they’re concerned about terrorism,” Hart said. “All of those things make the country uncertain today.”

The poll, which has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, found that Americans are approaching the Sept 11 anniversary with a degree of fear. The attacks had “an indelible, but not a paralyzing impact” on the country, the poll reported in figures that find 67 per cent saying the country has “a long way to go” to return to normal, or expressing the belief that America will never return to its pre- Sept 11 sense of confidence.

Eighty-two percent said it is either very or somewhat likely the United States will be the target of a major attack in the next few months. But coupled with the expectation of another attack is a perhaps more fatalistic assessment of post-9/11 life. When asked whether they worry “on most days” about another attack affecting them or their families, only 24 per cent said yes.

The situation with Iraq is clearly on the American mind “58 per cent of Americans said the United States should take military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power “but so is concern over international involvement. Sixty-eight per cent said that Bush “should get Congressional approval before taking any action against Saddam Hussein because Congress should have a role in the decision.”

An almost identical number, 67 per cent, said the United States should seek a UN resolution before taking action against Iraq.