CNN Skewed Pro-War Figures?

[d12]

A buddy of mine today just told me that CNN published that 70% of Americans support the war on Iraq and 51% think Saddam was behind September 11th. I know CNN has done some pretty bad reporting but are these figures remotely true?

[ShibbOleth]

I always thought that CNN was supposed to be the pinko, commy left wing media branch, and Fox was the hawkish, imperialist right wing branch. That said, I did see on CNN last night (or maybe it was Fox, I just channel surf) that a poll stated something like (not sure on exact numbers) 67% of Americans would support attack on Iraq if their was a UN Vote that called for it. The number was much lower, in the 40s, if no UN Vote. And overall, there was about 51% support for US deposition of Saddam Hussein (this number was not fully explained, but you can’t hope for much on these channels). Can’t find cites for these now on the CNN site, so I’ll try Fox or one of the poll sites.

[astorian]

Well, there’s a big difference between saying “Saddam was responsible for 9/11” and saying “A surprisingly large number of Americans THINK (erroneously) that Saddam was behind 9/11.” I don’t know exactly how many Americans are under this misconception, but it COULD be 51% (I’d have to see the actual surveys). And if CNN reports that, they’re not spreading pro-war propaganda.

[Flying_Monk]

Yup, don’t trust CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, Fox News, Rueters, Associated Press…wait a minute, where’s an american supposed to get his news from, anyway?

[ShibbOleth]

I like to get my news from BBC. But all news is pretty much skewed; it’s human nature and almost unavoidable. I’ve even seen at least one media figure say that news should be skewed and clearly identified as such, so that people will know which way the bias is. Not sure I would go that far. I generally know where the bias is and which sources are most biased.

[MrTuffPaws]

Flying Monk:

The BBC, duh

[Walloon]

According to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll,

By a 2-to-1 ratio, Americans favor invading Iraq with U.S. ground troops to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Not since November 2001 have they approved so overwhelmingly. Nearly six in 10 say they’re ready for such an invasion “in the next week or two.”

But that support drops off if the U.N. backing being sought by the United States, Britain and Spain Monday is not obtained. If the U.N. Security Council rejects a resolution paving the way for military action, only 54% of Americans favor a U.S. invasion. And if the Bush administration does not seek a final Security Council vote, support for a war drops to 47%.

[ShibbOleth]

Here’s more on the poll from the Gallup Poll site.

Exact wording at the site (should be indicative of the wording on the Poll):

Now, here are some things which could happen with this resolution. For each, say if you would favor or oopose(sic) invading Iraq with U.S. ground troops if it happened. How about if…

The U.S. offers the resolution to the United Nations and the U.N. approves it.

Favor 78%
Oppose 19%
No Opinion 3%

The U.S. offers the resolution to the United Nations and the U.N. rejects it.

Favor 54%
Oppose 43%
No Opinion 3%

The U.S. decides NOT to offer the resolution to the United Nations and says it will proceed with military action without any new vote in the U.N.

Favor 47%
Oppose 50%
No Opinion 3%

At the Gallup site there is also a graph which shows the trend this has followed since Oct 2002. This is the highest support shown in the past three weeks.