By SHAUN WATERMAN
UPI Homeland and National Security Editor

By a large margin, Americans feel the Bush administration has tipped the balance of security against liberty too far towards security, a new UPI/Zogby poll shows.

But the public remains closely divided on the president’s most controversial security programs, favoring by small margins warrantless wiretaps against terror suspects and the broad mining by federal agencies of personal data about U.S. citizens.

When asked whether the Bush administration had “found the right balance between personal security and personal freedom,” only one-third (33 percent) agreed. Nearly half (49 percent) agreed instead that the “administration has tipped the balance too far towards security.”

Only 7 percent agreed with the third option, that the balance was tipped “too far towards freedom, leaving our security weak.”

Asked about specific security programs run by the administration, Americans were generally more supportive of those targeting foreigners.

Two-thirds (66 percent) agreed that the U.S. government had the right to collect personal data about foreign airline passengers coming to the country, which has been a source of ongoing friction with the European Union.

Fifty-five percent agreed that the Terrorism Surveillance Program was “a necessary and legal tool to protect Americans,” and 42 percent disagreed. Under the program, the National Security Agency conducts court-authorized but warrantless surveillance of international communications by Americans with suspected terrorists.

read more at UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL