Dick Cheney finds himself, once more, on the wrong side of polling data. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll asked respondents whether they agreed with the former vice president's remarks that Barack Obama's policies were making the country more vulnerable to attack. The response: a resounding "no."
Only one-quarter (26 percent) of respondents said that the "actions Barack Obama has taken as president have increased the chances of a terrorist attack against the U.S." Nearly three-quarters of respondents (72 percent) said they had not.
Cheney has made just such an assertion twice since his administration has left office, prompting individuals like Vice President Joseph Biden to ask: what, exactly, Cheney and the prior White House accomplished in the war on terror.
In addition to receiving the public's backing in the spat against Cheney, Obama also has its support for his policies in Afghanistan. More than half (53 percent) of respondents said they favor the war in Afghanistan while 46 percent oppose. Those results are nearly diametrically reversed from February 18-19, when 47 percent supported and 51 percent opposed.
The one area where the president runs into thorny turf is with his commitment to target al Qaeda officials in Pakistan without that country's approval. Only 37 percent said they support the policy, which was a chief tenet of the Obama campaign. Sixty-one percent say U.S. government should not "take action without Pakistan's permission."