• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Washington, April 5 (CNA) Communist China has replaced Russia as the nation perceived by Americans to be the most threatening to the United States and Americans have become more worried about Communist Chinese threats to invade Taiwan, according to a new public opinion poll.

In back-to-back presentations at the Nuclear Security Decision Makers Forum in Albuquerque, two University of New Mexico researchers said their surveys also show most Americans support a strong nuclear weapons arsenal, with that support growing over the last several years, reported the Albuquerque Tribune on Wednesday.

Survey interviews suggest Americans are worried more about Communist Chinese threats to invade Taiwan, terrorist incidents around the world, and a generally more confusing and unstable world, said Kerry G. Herron, associate director for security studies at UNM's Institute for Public Policy, adding that "the world is not perceived as being safer than during the Cold War."

Institute Director Hank Jenkins-Smith pointed out that while Americans in surveys in 1993, 1995 and 1997 generally supported stable funding of the US nuclear weapons program, last year's survey revealed much stronger support for increasing that funding.

Support for nuclear weapons appears to be driven by the American public's concern about the political turmoil in Russia, Communist China's saber-rattling in Asia, and the potential for nuclear terrorism by nations opposed to US interests, explained Jenkins-Smith.

The surveys, conducted in the fall of 1999 to gauge public knowledge about and support for US nuclear policy, were paid for by Sandia National Laboratories. But Herron said the labs have taken a "completely hands-off approach" to the surveys while continuing to finance them.

He added that two researchers will brief Sandia executives next month on the 1999 survey results. But he declined to detail most of those results before the Sandia briefing.

Generally, Herron said, Americans see more benefits than risks from nuclear weapons, though women are concerned more than men about the risks from the United States' own nuclear arsenal.

The 1999 data also shows that more Americans see a need for nuclear weapons and more believe that funding should be increased to support nuclear weapons programs. The 1993 survey found 63 percent of Americans favored the retention of US nuclear weapons, and that response rose to 79 percent in 1999.

While 51 percent of those Americans surveyed in 1993 believed that nuclear weapons funding should decrease, last year 61 percent favored increased spending on them, said Herron. (By Nelson Chung)