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American Public an Outlier on Torture

Views about America’s post-9/11 interrogations are strongly correlated with how people feel about the potential use of torture in their own countries. Across the nations surveyed, a median of 40% believe their own governments would be justified in using torture against people suspected of terrorism in order to gain information about possible attacks. A median of 45% oppose this idea.
Compared with other nations, Americans are generally more supportive of using torture in this type of situation. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) in the U.S. say it could be justified, making it one of only 12 countries surveyed where at least half hold this view.

Countries with higher levels of support for the use of torture by their own governments tend to also have higher levels of support for the use of torture techniques by the U.S. government following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.