Sunday, 19 Jan On this day ...
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri in 2001 // Getty
Q1. The White House said Monday that a US drone strike in Afghanistan killed 71-yr old al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri, a founding member and mastermind behind the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Africa that killed 224, the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17, and the Sept 11 attacks that killed 2,996.
Do you think al Zawahiri's assassination will materially degrade the ability of al Qaeda to attack Americans?
Do you think al Zawahiri's assassination will materially degrade the ability of al Qaeda to attack Americans?
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+
Yes
24%
25%
21%
17%
20%
30%
22%
16%
25%
30%
No, it was already minimal
23%
26%
21%
23%
23%
23%
25%
28%
19%
22%
No, al Zawahiri wasn't that integral these days
19%
20%
18%
25%
23%
13%
15%
19%
22%
20%
No, other
19%
15%
24%
21%
18%
18%
15%
17%
20%
22%
I don't believe al Zawahiri was killed
3%
3%
3%
5%
5%
1%
2%
3%
3%
4%
Don't know
14%
14%
15%
14%
9%
16%
25%
14%
11%
7%
Don't care
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Q2. The killing of al Zawahiri comes a year after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan that helped return the Taliban to power. The Taliban have publicly pledged to keep Afghanistan from again becoming a haven for terrorists, though the Biden administration said the Taliban was aware that al Zawahiri was hiding in Kabul.
The chaos of the withdrawal aside, do you believe withdrawing fully from Afghanistan was the right move?
The chaos of the withdrawal aside, do you believe withdrawing fully from Afghanistan was the right move?
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+
Yes
49%
49%
50%
26%
50%
71%
60%
56%
41%
44%
No
42%
47%
39%
69%
41%
18%
28%
42%
48%
48%
Don't know
8%
4%
11%
5%
9%
11%
12%
1%
11%
7%
Don't care
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Q3. Intelligence officials examined what kind of missile could be fired at al-Zawahri on the balcony of his safe house without causing major damage to the house or the neighborhood around it, deciding on a form of Hellfire missile designed to kill a single person.
Do you approve of the care the government apparently took to not cause collateral damage in the assassination?
Do you approve of the care the government apparently took to not cause collateral damage in the assassination?
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+
Yes
73%
68%
79%
61%
68%
84%
68%
67%
77%
80%
No
2%
2%
1%
2%
5%
1%
0%
0%
2%
4%
I don't believe they cared about collateral damage
23%
27%
19%
35%
23%
11%
27%
30%
18%
15%
Don't know
2%
3%
1%
0%
0%
4%
3%
1%
2%
0%
Don't care
0%
1%
0%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
1%
0%
Related Poll
Mine Field, August 2021
76% approved of total US troop removal from Afghanistan, even as 90% of those thought it was poorly executed
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