Poll: Americans still fear terror threat

? Two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, most Americans feel no safer from terrorist threats despite the war on terrorism, efforts at homeland security and the invasion of Iraq, according to a survey released Tuesday.

In a poll conducted last week, 28 percent said they felt less safe than they did two years ago, 48 percent said they were neither safer nor less safe and 24 percent said they felt more safe.

In addition, a trend-line question asked repeatedly over the two years since the attacks shows a steady level of concern about more terrorist attacks of between 70 percent and 80 percent. Last week’s poll showed that 73 percent were concerned about the possibility of additional attacks on the United States.

The poll of 1,217 people was conducted by Knowledge Networks for the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland. It has a margin of error of 3 to 4 percentage points.

A majority of those surveyed also think the Bush administration is overemphasizing military and unilateral actions in the war on terrorism and should put more emphasis on diplomatic and economic methods and seek more help from the United Nations and allies.

And 64 percent said the U.S. military presence in the Middle East increased rather than decreased the likelihood of terrorist attacks against the United States. Also, 58 percent agree with the statement that “the United States is playing the role of world policeman in the Middle East more than it should be.”