[Media-watch] Poll: U.S. Public Uninformed of Iraq Issues

[David Miller]

Tuesday, April 27th, 2004
Poll: U.S. Public Uninformed of Iraq Issues

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A new poll has found that 45% of Americans still believe Saddam Hussein had
weapons of mass destruction before the invasion of Iraq and 57% believe
Hussein gave substantial support to Al Qaeda despite no known documentary or
physical evidence to date that these statements are true. [includes rush
transcript] 
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A new poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the
University of Maryland has found that 45 percent of Americans still believe
Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction before the invasion of Iraq
and 57% believe Hussein gave substantial support to Al Qaeda.

There's no known documentary or physical evidence to date that these
statements are true.

Former chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay testified before Congress in
January that no weapons were found and prewar intelligence on Iraq was
"almost all wrong."

CIA Director George Tenet last month rejected assertions by Vice President
Dick Cheney that Iraq had cooperated with al-Qaida.

Other senior officials including Richard Clarke and Hans Blix as well as
various intelligence analysts and whistleblowers have also come forward.

Despite that record, many Americans continue to believe that the threat from
Iraqi weapons and its alleged links to terrorism justified the war. The poll
also found that that conviction correlates closely with support for the war
and President Bush.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/27/1435203 
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