Defending the border

A new survey shows that defending the border is a top priority for many Americans:

With reports of smuggled illegal aliens possibly planning a nuclear attack on Boston, a new survey of voters shows the top priority of Americans is the defense of U.S. borders and homeland security, far outranking building democracies in other nations.

According to the poll, 43 percent of voters listed border defense and homeland security as their No. 1 choice when asked about the highest military or foreign priority of the federal government.

Coming in second place at 19 percent is intelligence gathering and working to achieve international agreements encouraging the sharing of intelligence. The third priority, at 17 percent, is international aid and diplomacy, including lining up broad international support for military actions.

Building democracies in other nations received just 7 percent, and the U.S. going it alone in military interventions, footing all or most of the cost in terms of dollars and casualties, came in fifth, at just 6 percent.

When voters were asked to choose their highest, second and third priorities from the same list of five issues and their top choices were combined, defense of U.S. borders was the clear winner at 77 percent.