U.S. Citizens View Obama as Strong on Security

Opinion polls by two major U.S. television networks show that the majority of the country's citizens have faith in President Barack Obama's ability to protect them from "future acts of terrorism". The survey results come despite a wave of strong criticism of the administration's conduct following the recent failed attempt by a Nigerian national, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, to blow up a flight from Amsterdam to the U.S. city of Detroit. Heather Hurlburt, executive director of the Ploughshares-funded National Security Network, says that conservatives are trying to resurrect a climate of fear politics.  There is a sense that "if you create an atmosphere of fear then people are more likely to vote in a certain way," she told IPS regarding the motives behind conservatives' bashing the administration's handling of national security. "There is a perception that fear works for the advantage of certain people and candidates."