U.S. views on what causes terrorism.
Pollster James Zogby takes to the pages of Forbes to highlight some recent data:
Our questions about the motivations of terrorists to attack the U.S. found the right and left with very different perceptions on all of the choices we offered except one, our support for Israel. Fifty-eight percent said it was a significant factor in terrorist motivation, and that percentage varied little across all demographic groups, including political ideology. It was cited somewhat more by First Globals (69%).Support for Israel ranked third among the seven possible motivations. Here are the results for how many overall thought each was a significant factor:
69% - Resentment of Western power and influence;
58% - Making Islam the world's dominant religion;
58% - Support for Israel;
34% - Death and damage caused by the U.S. military;
32% - Western freedoms;
27% - Poverty;
19% - Psychological disorders.
12% - Others
Zogby goes onto note how widely divergent the views are between Democrats and Republicans:
For example, making Islam dominant was called significant by 84% of Republicans, but only 35% of Democrats. On the impact of casualties caused by our military, 52% of Democrats said it was significant, compared with 11% of Republicans.
It's pretty shocking how widely divergent and politicized these views are. Personally, I don't understand why people insist on creating an "either/or" dynamic with respect to what's driving Islamic terrorism. It's a complicated problem. Why can't it be driven by both a desire to spread a fundamentalist religious belief and as a reaction to military actions that kill Muslims? The interplay of both issues, I think, is at the root of the problem.
