numediaman
Apr 26, 2004, 10:07 AM
From Juan Cole:
Poll: 57% of Americans Believe Saddam Gave Substantial Support to al-Qaeda
A new poll shows that as of mid-March, 57% of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein had given substantial support to al-Qaeda. Worse, 45% actually say that "clear evidence" has been found in Iraq to support this allegation! As for weapons of mass destruction 45 percent say they believe Saddam had them before the recent war, and 22 percent say that he had a major program for developing them.
There is no documentary or physical evidence for any of these assertions . . .
. . . The poll was commissioned by the ' University of Maryland's Program in International Policy Attitudes, conducted by Knowledge Networks from March 16 to 22, was released yesterday. It surveyed 1,311 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. '
Why would so many Americans cling to patently false beliefs? One can only speculate of course. But I would suggest that the two-party system in the US has produced a two-party epistemology. Epistemology is the study of how we know what we know. If it were accepted that Saddam had virtually nothing to do with al-Qaeda, that he had no weapons of mass destruction (nor any significant programs for producing them), and that no evidence for such things has been uncovered after the US and its allies have had a year to comb through Baath documents-- if all that is accepted, then President Bush's credibility would suffer. For his partisans, it is absolutely crucial that the president retain his credibility. Therefore, rather than face reality, they re-jigger it to create a fantasy world in which Saddam and Usamah are buddies (as in the Jimmy Fallon/ Horatio Sanz skits on the American comedy show, Saturday Night Live), and in which David Kay (of whom respondents say they've never heard) never recanted his earlier belief that the WMD was there somewhere.
Of those who maintain that Iraq actually did have WMD, 72% say they are going to vote for Bush.
http://www.juancole.com/2004_04_01_juancole_archive.html#108287521120764481
I think this is actually good news for Kerry. It shows that a huge percentage of Americans are still misinformed on Iraq. Meaning that there will be a large group of people feeling betrayed when they finally get the right information.
(For those who want to dismiss Juan Cole, a little background: he is a professor of history at the Un. of Michigan. Last week he was called on to testify in Congress. His daily blog is an excellent source of information since he often includes translations of Arabic news sources. Find it at www.juancole.com)
Poll: 57% of Americans Believe Saddam Gave Substantial Support to al-Qaeda
A new poll shows that as of mid-March, 57% of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein had given substantial support to al-Qaeda. Worse, 45% actually say that "clear evidence" has been found in Iraq to support this allegation! As for weapons of mass destruction 45 percent say they believe Saddam had them before the recent war, and 22 percent say that he had a major program for developing them.
There is no documentary or physical evidence for any of these assertions . . .
. . . The poll was commissioned by the ' University of Maryland's Program in International Policy Attitudes, conducted by Knowledge Networks from March 16 to 22, was released yesterday. It surveyed 1,311 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. '
Why would so many Americans cling to patently false beliefs? One can only speculate of course. But I would suggest that the two-party system in the US has produced a two-party epistemology. Epistemology is the study of how we know what we know. If it were accepted that Saddam had virtually nothing to do with al-Qaeda, that he had no weapons of mass destruction (nor any significant programs for producing them), and that no evidence for such things has been uncovered after the US and its allies have had a year to comb through Baath documents-- if all that is accepted, then President Bush's credibility would suffer. For his partisans, it is absolutely crucial that the president retain his credibility. Therefore, rather than face reality, they re-jigger it to create a fantasy world in which Saddam and Usamah are buddies (as in the Jimmy Fallon/ Horatio Sanz skits on the American comedy show, Saturday Night Live), and in which David Kay (of whom respondents say they've never heard) never recanted his earlier belief that the WMD was there somewhere.
Of those who maintain that Iraq actually did have WMD, 72% say they are going to vote for Bush.
http://www.juancole.com/2004_04_01_juancole_archive.html#108287521120764481
I think this is actually good news for Kerry. It shows that a huge percentage of Americans are still misinformed on Iraq. Meaning that there will be a large group of people feeling betrayed when they finally get the right information.
(For those who want to dismiss Juan Cole, a little background: he is a professor of history at the Un. of Michigan. Last week he was called on to testify in Congress. His daily blog is an excellent source of information since he often includes translations of Arabic news sources. Find it at www.juancole.com)
