Americans still confident government can prevent future terrorist attacks

Although most Americans think it is likely that more acts of terrorism could happen, they also have confidence that the government can protect people from future attacks, a mid-December poll from the Associated Press suggests.

Seventy percent of respondents said they thought terrorist attacks against major U.S. cities, buildings or national landmarks were likely in the near future; 27 percent did not think more attacks were likely.

Eighty-five percent said they had confidence in the U.S. government to protect its citizens from future attacks. And 56 percent said things in the United States were headed in the right direction.

A Changed Nation

The vast majority of respondents to a mid-December poll from ABC News and the Washington Post said the United States may be forever altered by the events of 2001, but the change is for the better.

Of the 91 percent who said Sept. 11 changed the United States in a lasting way, 69 percent also said the change was for the better.

In addition, 55 percent said the events had changed their own personal lives. Of those respondents, most said the way they felt about things had changed (72 percent) more than the way they lived their day-to-day lives (25 percent). And while 68 percent said the cost of the war on terrorism may "shortchange other needed programs," 79 percent said the trade-off was worth it.