The above was quoted in the following article that appeared in the Times newspaper last Wednesday. The article states that these figures come from a “recent poll”:
MSNBC provided a link to the article the next day and on Friday I heard Chris Matthews use the same figures while listening to an-all news radio station.
Problem is I can’t seem to find any poll that asked Americans anything about Saddam and 9/11. I did a search on Google and all the resulting links reference the Times article.
Has anybody got the dope on the orgins of these numbers?
That number seems high - http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr030113.asp
this is the most recent poll I could find on the subject, and it says a small majority of Americans want war with Iraq.
1 in 2 Americans? That’s pretty orwellian. The CIA said outright that Hussein isn’t connected to Al-Qaeda, and in fact considers them to be an enemy. Bush has pushed the “Saddam was behind 9-11” through nothing more than argumentam ad assertum ad infinitum (i.e., the Big Lie,) and people seem to have swallowed it.
Chris Mathews indeed mentioned it recently to display his shock at how the administration has not only not made a legit case to the public, but has in fact misled them into thinking Saddam played a part in 9/11.
One key point here is that in many of the polls, the questions are asked in such a manner to support one specific issue. Instead of asking which is better: war or no war. The question may be phrased, “which would you prefer: Saddam rape your little sister and torture your father to death or a war against Iraq?”
Obviously, I have exagerated just a little bit. But the truth still remains that the questions are most often phrased in a specific way as well as the answers made available, to support a specific viewpoint. So that the results are always a little bit useless.
You can have a field day with that site, they have exact poll question wording and multiple polls on a given subject. In my quick look, that seems to have been the last time they asked that particular question.
Some polls make an effort to combat wording issues by switching it up:
Person A is asked, “Do you like cheddar or swiss?”
Person B is asked, “Do you like swiss or cheddar?”
Same with the order of the questions.
I don’t know the specific polling methods used here, but I wouldn’t automatically dismiss any poll’s results just because wording can, in some cases, influence results from specific poll questions. Reputable polling groups do their best to be fair and avoid conflict of interest.
Well you see, it’s all how you word the questions. Does Saddam support terrorism? Without a doubt. Does he hate the USA? Again- doubtless. So- does he support- in principle- terrorism vs the USA? Yes. Did he have anything to do with 9-11? Besides generally supporting a way of life in which such acts are not only condoned, but supported- not likely. So- MAYBE if Saddam had not been out there supporting terrorism in general- then PERHAPS 9-11 would not have happened.
IS Saddam Evil? Without a doubt. Would the world be better without him? Seems like it. Would I support “military action” to remove him? I think so. BUT- I am not in favor of a “land war”, unless we get a lot more solid evidence than we have. And I think most Americans think like I do. Having a “smart bomb” blow up a “weapon of mass destruction”, some military target or even Saddam himself is one thing- sending in troops is another. Maving troops mass to scare the bejesus out of Saddam- sure. Actually sending in the Marines? I don’t think so.
So- do i support the Adminstration? Well- since the marines haven’t actually landed- yes, more or less. Remember, threats & saber rattling are not the same as actual invasion.
Cleary. Saddam does not respond to anything but naked threats & aggression. Diplomacy & just talking isn’t going to do it. However, it SEEMS like threats will. He’s a bully- he responds to such things. Let’s hope that threats alone will do it.
Although the first question is a bit different from what the OP discusses, this is from a Knight Ridder poll conducted on Jan. 3-6, 2003. Scroll down and its located near the middle of this page: http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm
“Do you think Iraq and Al Queda . . . are allied and working together to plan new acts of terrorism, or not?”
%
Are allied 65
Are not 16
Don’t know 19
“As far as you know, how many of the September 11th terrorist hijackers were Iraqi citizens: most of them, some of them, just one, or none?”
%
Most of them 21
Some of them 23
Just one 6
None 17
Don’t know 33
(correct answer is “none”, yes?)