AP/Ipsos Red Hot Poker Up the Ass Poll

The results are perhaps not what mainstream media expected in a new AP/Ipsos poll about the use of torture to interrogate terrorists. With all the recent stories about alleged torture and abuse of al Qaeda prisoners, and the CIA "renditions" of terrorist suspects, it seemed that the MSM had succeeded in creating a hostile environment for any sort of aggressive interrogation. Not so, according to the poll, though some major outlets are shading what they report to put the best face on the results. MSNBC and ABC run with the AP feed:

WASHINGTON - Most Americans and a majority of people in Britain, France and South Korea say torturing terrorism suspects is justified at least in rare instances, according to AP-Ipsos polling.

This is surprising. AP comes right out in their lead with the real point of the poll, fudging only a little bit, implying that "rarely" is the most popular answer. Actually, the poll shows that 38% of Americans would allow torture "often" or "sometimes", with 23% saying "rarely".

CBS and Fox have not reported on the poll.

Typically, CNN obscures the most significant poll results by looking for an anti-American angle:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most people in eight countries that are America allies don't want the United States conducting secret interrogations of terror suspects on their soil -- a sensitive question after recent reports of clandestine prisons run by the CIA in eastern Europe.

Just about what one could expect from the network that brought us Eason Jordan, who admitted allowing Saddam to censor CNN stories in exchange for keeping the Baghdad bureau open pre-war, then left CNN in disgrace after accusing American soldiers of targeting journalists.

In May, 2004 an ABC News/Washington Post poll found:

Given pro and con arguments, 63 percent in an ABC News/Washington Post poll say torture is never acceptable, even when other methods fail and authorities believe the suspect has information that could prevent terrorist attacks. Thirty-five percent say torture is acceptable in some such cases.

So what changed? Scores of brutal, high-profile terrorist acts against innocents occurred, virtually all of them committed by Muslim extremists. Thinking people are fed up with terrorist apologists bleating about "dignity" for captured jihadi babyhunters.