http://eafarris.al.umces.edu/node/view/432
American Public Severely Misinformed about Iraq, 9/11
USASubmitted by eafarris on 30 June, 2003 - 1:11pm.
This article from Charleston, SC's charleston.net tells of a poll done by my
employer's mothership which shows that the American public is, to put it
midly, severely misinformed on the issues of Iraq and the attacks of 11
September. Among the polls results:
34% believe the U. S. has found WMDs in Iraq (we haven't)
22% believe Iraqis used WMDs during the war (they didn't)
50% believe Iraqis were among the 9/11 hijackers (none were)
The study's conclusions are available at the Program on International Policy
Attitudes website. Among the reasons cited for this contrast between held
beliefs and the truth are that many Americans want to believe the war was
just, though evidence belies that, and that "may be leading them to screen
out information." Also the lack of attention paid to foreign news is cited,
along with the fact that, while suggested WMD findings were given top
billing by the American media when found, the subsequent reports saying the
findings were erroneous were given considerably less attention by the
American media.
http://www.charleston.net/stories/061503/ter_15poll.shtml
Story last updated at 9:25 a.m. Sunday, June 15, 2003
Poll: Americans misinformed about Iraq, 9-11
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON--A third of the American public believes U.S. forces found
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll, and 22
percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons.
Before the war, half of those polled in a survey said Iraqis were among the
19 hijackers Sept. 11, 2001.
But such weapons have not been found in Iraq and were never used. Most of
the Sept. 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. None were Iraqis.
How could so many people be so wrong about life-and-death information that
has dominated news coverage for almost two years?
These poll results startled the pollsters who conducted and analyzed the
surveys.
"It's a striking finding," said Steve Kull, the director of the Program on
International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, which asked
the weapons questions during a May 14-18 poll of 1,256 respondents.
He added, "Given the intensive news coverage and high levels of public
attention, this level of misinformation suggests some Americans may be
avoiding having an experience of cognitive dissonance."
That is, having their beliefs conflict with the facts.
Kull said the data showed that the belief that weapons of mass destruction
had been found "is substantially greater among those who favored the war."
Pollsters and political analysts see several reasons for the gaps between
facts and beliefs: the public's short attention span on foreign news,
fragmentary or conflicting media reports that lacked depth or skepticism,
and White House efforts to sell war by oversimplifying the threat.
"Most people get little whiffs and fragments of news, not in any organized
way," said Thomas Mann, a scholar at the Brookings Institution, a
centrist-liberal think tank. "And there have been a lot of conflicting
reports on the weapons."
Before the war, the U.S. media often reported as fact the assertions by the
Bush administration that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of illegal weapons.
CBS News in December reported how Bush officials were "threatening war
against Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction."
During and after the war, reports of weapons discoveries were often
trumpeted on front pages, while follow-up stories debunking the "smoking
gun" reports received less attention.
Bush has described the preemptive attack on Iraq as "one victory in the war
on terror that began Sept. 11." Bush officials also claim that Iraq
sheltered and helped al-Qaida operatives.
"The public is susceptible to manipulation, and if they hear officials
saying there is a strong connection between Iraq and al-Qaida terrorists,
then they think there must be a connection," Mann said.
"Tapping into the feelings and fears after Sept. 11 is a way to sell a
policy," he added.
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