For the first time this year, a plurality (48%) of U.S. voters think it’s unlikely that the Guantanamo prison camp for suspected terrorists will be closed by January as President Obama has repeatedly vowed.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 37% say it is at least somewhat likely the prison camp will be closed by January

Those numbers have reversed since August when 50% said it was at least somewhat likely that the prison camp would be closed on the president’s schedule, and only 34% said it was unlikely. Sixteen percent (16%) weren’t sure.

Still, opinions are notably soft on this question. Just 10% now the prison camp is very likely to close and 11% say that outcome is Not at All Likely.

Virtually unchanged since August are the findings that 31% agree with the president’s decision to close the Guantanamo prison, while 55% disagree with closing the camp. In January, when the decision was made, voters were evenly divided.

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Voters are more concerned, too, that dangerous terrorists will be set free if the Guantanamo prison is closed and some prisoners are transferred to other countries. Eighty percent (80%) share that concern including 58% who are now very concerned about that possibility.

Only 28% of voters say some Guantanamo inmates should be moved to prisons in the United States in order to close the facility in Cuba. Fifty-eight percent (58%) oppose bringing any of those terrorists suspects here.

The Senate this week passed a measure authorizing the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners to the United States only if they are to be tried in U.S. courts. The Obama administration has sought that measure as part of the effort to close down the prison.

Fifteen percent (15%) of voters say suspected terrorists should be given all the rights of U.S. citizens when they are being tried. Seventy-four percent (74%) disagree and say the terrorists should not be given all those rights.

According to an Associated Press report this week, “Obama in January ordered the facility closed in a year, but the administration has yet to deliver a plan and the effort has hit several roadblocks. Among the problems is unease among Obama's Democratic allies on Capitol Hill, who have refused to fund the effort.”

Still, 57% of Democrats say it is at least somewhat likely that the prison camp will be closed by January, a view shared by just 26% of Republicans and 29% of voters not affiliated with either party.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of Democrats support the president’s decision to close the Guantanamo facility. Eighty-one percent (81%) of GOP voters and 58% of unaffiliateds oppose such a move.

Most Republicans and unaffiliated voters also oppose moving terrorist inmates from Guantanamo to U.S. prisons, but Democrats are almost evenly divided on the question.

Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters disagree with the Justice Department’s decision to investigate the treatment and possible torture of terrorists during the Bush administration. But 36% say such an investigation is a good idea.

Thirty-five percent (35%) now believe America’s relationship with the Muslim world will be worse one year from now than it is today. That’s a seven-point jump from a month ago. Only 19% say that relationship will be better in one year’s time, while 41% say it will still be the same.

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