Seventy-five percent (75%) of U.S. voters are at least somewhat concerned that dangerous terrorists will be set free if the Guantanamo prison camp is closed and some prisoners are transferred to other countries. Fifty-six percent (56%) are very concerned.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 24% are not concerned about the potential danger.

Support for the president’ s plan to close the prison camp for suspected terrorists at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba continues to erode. It’s been steadily dropping since Obama announced the camp closure just after taking office in January. Only 32% of voters now favor closing the prison camp, down six points from May and down 12 points since the President announced his decision in January.

Fifty-five percent (55%) now oppose closing the prison, with 13% not sure. In January, just after the president announced his decision, just 42% were opposed.

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Still, 50% of voters now say it is at least somewhat likely that the Guantanamo prison will be closed by January, including 17% who say it is very likely. Twenty-seven percent (27%) say it is not very likely the prison camp will be closed by then, and seven percent (7%) say it’s not at all likely. Sixteen percent (16%) are not sure.

If the camp is closed, the inmates need to be transferred elsewhere. One facility under consideration is a maximum-security prison in Michigan north of Detroit that is scheduled for closing in October. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters oppose housing Guantanamo prisoners in Michigan, while 28% favor the idea. Opposition nationally is stronger than in Michigan itself where 50% are against housing Guantanamo inmates in the prison there.

Just 18% of voters say closing the Guantanamo camp will improve America’s relationship with the Muslim world. Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe closing the prison will not help that relationship, and 26% are not sure.

The Guantanamo prison camp and the harsh interrogation techniques used there have been criticized by human rights groups and others at home and abroad, including many Middle Eastern countries. The president has argued that the camp weakened U.S. national security, although only 25% of voters agree with that view.

There’s a noticeable partisan gap on all questions relating to this topic. Most Democrats (56%) support closing the prison, but even more Republicans (84%) and unaffiliateds (62%) are opposed.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans and 58% of voters not affiliated with either major party are very concerned that closing the camp and transferring the prisoners will allow dangerous terrorists to be set free. Only 36% of Democrats agree.

While 69% of those with populist or Mainstream views are very concerned about this possibility, just 15% of the Political Class share that concern. (see article on the Political Class and Mainstream).

Last summer, 59% were in favor of keeping the Guantanamo prison camp open. In November, 49% held that view.

In spite of Obama’s continuing outreach efforts to Muslims worldwide, 43% expect America’s relationship with the Muslim world to be roughly the same a year form now. Twenty-six percent (26%) say that relationship will be better a year from now, while 25% say it will be worse.

The Washington Post reported last week that the administration has gotten commitments to accept Guantanamo prisoners from nearly a dozen countries and “is increasingly confident about its ability to transfer a large majority of the prisoners who have been cleared for release.” Just this week, an Afghani prisoner, whose confession to throwing a grenade that wounded two U.S. soldiers was thrown out by a judge as resulting from torture, was returned to Afghanistan.

There are 229 inmates remaining at the Guantanamo facility, and the administration has yet to decide how to handle the cases of over half of them, many of whom it still wants to prosecute. The White House has to return to Congress by the end of September to get needed funding to continue the closing process.

Forty-one percent (41%) of voters now rate the president’s handling of national security matters as good or excellent, the lowest finding in this area since he took office. Generally, his numbers on national security have been trending down steadily since mid-June.

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