US confidence in the so-called war on terrorism has plummeted in the past few weeks following revelations of missed warnings and threats of new attacks, a poll suggested today.
Only four in ten Americans believe the US and its allies are winning the war, compared to two-thirds in January in the aftermath of military victories in Afghanistan.
Some 35 per cent now say neither side is winning and 15 per cent believe the terrorists have the upper hand, the USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll found.
Confidence among Americans is now even lower than last October when the nation was still reeling from the September 11th attacks.
"We've come off the emotional highs, and reality has settled in," analyst Mr Thomas Mann from the Brookings Institution told USA Today.
"It's been a long time since we've heard reports of decisive military victories. Now, we've entered a more ambiguous stage with reports of al-Qaeda and the Taliban still operating and with continuous warnings of the possibility of new attacks."
Mr Frank Newport, from Gallup, said people in the US had been "beaten over the head" with terror threats in recent weeks. Americans were not suddenly saying that President George Bush had failed, but they had been reminded that the terrorist threat was a 'gigantic problem'," he said.
In the past fortnight Vice President Mr Dick Cheney said a new terror strike is "almost certain" while Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld said he expects terrorists will obtain weapons of mass destruction and will not hesitate to use them against America.
The FBI released warnings of possible attacks on the Statue of Liberty or Brooklyn Bridge last week, while the bureau's director Mr Robert Mueller said suicide bombings in the US were "inevitable".
Mr Mann said recent reports of pre-September 11th intelligence failures by the FBI had also led many Americans to believe they were losing the war against terrorism.
Meanwhile today, American Airlines chief executive Mr Donald Carty said another terrorist attack against commercial airlines was unlikely and urged some security measures added at airports be dropped.
"It will be a hollow victory indeed if the system we end up with is so onerous and so difficult that air travel, while obviously more secure, becomes more trouble for the average person than it is worth," he said in a speech in Tokyo.
PA