50 percent of U.S. says Iraq had WMDs

[ECH1969]

Half of Americans now say Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded the country in 2003 -- up from 36 percent last year, a Harris poll finds.

"Filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist," said Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Republican, during a June 21 press conference detailing the newly declassified information.

Seventy-two percent of respondents said the Iraqi people are better off now than under Saddam Hussein's regime -- a figure similar to that of 2004, when it stood at 76 percent. In addition, 64 percent say Saddam had "strong links" with al Qaeda, up from 62 percent in October 2004.

Americans remain in touch with the realities of Iraq: 61 percent said the conflict has motivated more Islamic terrorists to attack the U.S. -- a number that has remained virtually unchanged since 2004.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060724-110410-8309r.htm

[Lindacooks]

1. Who the hell are they asking?

And are those people really THAT stupid?

[PADemD]

22. I work with one

She insisted yesterday that the WMD were moved before we invaded Iraq.

[CANDO]

24. The failure of these people to follow simple logic amazes me.

So we had to invade a country because it possessed WMD's which it might hand off to terrorists to use against us. We don't find any because they were secretly taken to Syria. Now, why the hell we don't invade Syria to go after these same WMD's, which could be handed off to terrorists to use against us is just beyond me! Apparently these people are missing a few brain cells. It's as though they only feared those WMD's if they were in Iraqi hands. The Syrians, who are closely tied to Hezzbollah, would never think of using those WMD's from Iraq on us. There you have it, problem solved! We are doomed.

[fasttense]

32. My question to these idiots is why didn't they use the WMDs

against our troops, if they had them? Cause they never had WMDs. But if you say it on fake news, I mean fox news, then it must be real.

[bennywhale]

30. Didn't something like 70% believe they had something to do

with 9/11 as the rest of the world looked on in horror

[MarkDevin]

106. "The WMD were moved before we invaded Iraq"?!

Then why didn't our spy satellites pick up the dozens of trucks Iraq would have needed to haul those WMDs into Syria? After all, those satellites can read a goddamn license plate number from 30,000 miles up.

Though I've always tried to cut people some slack, the rank stupidity of the Bushites has sorely tested my resolve!

[emmadoggy]

108. I got in an argument with my brother this weekend about this too...

He insisted they were all moved before we got there and then asked me if I agreed that the Iraqi people are better off without Saddam.
I said that I agreed he was a brutal, despicable dictator, but that I didn't think the way the people there are living right now qualifies as "better" by any stretch of the imagination and he looked at me as though I had snakes growing out of my head. He was like, "you actually think they were better off with Saddam??!!!" He told me I was the most radical liberal he knows. He pressed me to name at least ONE conservative value/philosophy that I shared and when I couldn't he insisted that since EVERY belief I have is "liberal" that it makes me an "extreme liberal". (I'm not). He thought I was nuts to insinuate that the MSM was anything but "liberal", because "everyone knows the media has always been liberal". He knew basically nothing about Valerie Plame or the signing statements issue - He suggested that if he hadn't heard about them on the TV then they must be some cooked up crap from a "liberal" source and wanted "proof". He scoffed at me at the suggestion that Bush is not a legitimate president since the elections were a fraud and when I suggested he at least read the RFK Jr. article he first had to ask who RFK Jr. was, and then scoffed that it was from a "liberal" source so it had to be biased and mostly untrue.
And my brother is what I would call a "moderate conservative". He works for Union Pacific railroad- union job - and he knows that the Republicans are a detriment to his livelihood. He kept going on an on about how all politics is "bullshit, it's all just bullshit" etc. How "all politicians are corrupt and crooked" etc. How I just believe everything I read and am too gullible and am not reading or listening to any sources from the other side so my view is not balanced etc.
Even my mom, who is a Democrat, when we were watching a Tom Brokaw special on Global Warming on Discovery channel, said that she "didn't buy all this global warming stuff". "Summer is hot and it's always been hot" etc.
It's a no-win for me. I spent a chunk of time reading a bunch of poll results on PollingReport.com a couple days ago and came away very depressed. I feel that the vast majority of the population is still essentially clueless about all that is going on. And honestly, I was clueless up until about 6 months ago when I decided to wake up and start paying attention and found DU. I think that our society is shifting further and further right and don't even know it. And frankly, since this administration took office, there has been just flat out almost too much to keep up with. Some days I come to DU and my brain practically explodes from all the crap to follow and keep up with.

Sorry, I got off on a bit of a tangent there. I almost always avoid politics with my family because it always gets very contentious. There is so much at stake in November and I am not feeling that confident we can swing it our way. If we don't, I really fear for the future.

[Bhaisahab]

115. that is a very interesting account

thank you for sharing. it is a typical story isn't it? people just dont bother enough to do some research on their own, relying instead on television to deliver news to them.
but you can take heart in the fact that this is a worldwide phenomenon, especially in democratic countries. its like people just do not want to participate in a democracy any more. give them dish TV, a playstation, an iPod, and they are as happy as assholes on pots.

by the way, welcome to DU!

[emmadoggy]

116. Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, my eyes have been opened very wide since waking up and finding DU. I despised Bush before he was even appointed and was sick over the results of 2000. I had a conversation with my sister (a dem) at the time saying that I felt that all the good of the previous 8 years was going straight into a black hole and we were going to be in the "crapper" in a very short time if Bush won. Sadly, it has turned out FAR, FAR, worse than I even imagined. In 2001, I became pregnant for the first time - with twins - and so for the past 5 years I was focused on keeping my head above water being a mom to twins. I had little time for watching the news or digging for news on the internet. And frankly, I was so disgusted with Bush and his administration that I could hardly stand to see or hear anything about them, so I basically just ignored it all.
I'm not sure what made me decide I needed to start "checking in" to the news - Katrina probably had a lot to do with it - but now that my kids are a little bigger and I have a fast internet connection, I have MADE the time to start keeping up with what it going on.
I think though that most people are just so busy and wrapped up in their day-to-day lives, and government seems so removed from that, and they are apathetic and feel that politicians are all the same, that they just don't care anymore. Until an issue really hits close to home, they just don't pay attention. And it takes time and effort to keep up with and follow it all, and people would rather spend that precious time doing other more enjoyable (or necessary) things. If I wasn't a stay-at-home mom, I probably wouldn't be tuned in now the way I am.
I feel our nation is in such a crisis right now though that I wish we could somehow get everyone to wake up. I've said it more than once though - when the Lewinsky scandal was underway, EVERYONE seemed to know what was going on - tongues were wagging around the water cooler every day and everyone knew who all the players/characters were. It was all so salacious and was PLASTERED IN THE MEDIA EVERY DAY. Now, as we all know, that is not happening, so we end up with a populace who doesn't know who Karl Rove, or Valerie Plame or Joe Wilson are. They don't know what signing statements are. They don't know about Diebold and ES&S and other election fraud practices going on. They believe that taking away our civil liberties in the name of fighting terror is necessary. They believe there is nothing to be done about any of it. We have an entire population who cannot name the single main reason we started a war that we have now been in for 3 1/2 years (that was supposedly "over" a few weeks after it began). How many "reasons" for the war have the Bush admin. spouted out??? They have floated so many "reasons" for the war that no one really knows why we are fighting. WMD's, to fight Al-Quaeda/terrorism, to spread democracy, to depose Saddam, blah, blah, blah. Of course, the reason for that is because they have to obscure the fact that it was all a lie! Our national media is a HUGE part of the problems we are facing.
Sorry for blathering on again. It's just so unbelievably frustrating and depressing. And if we can't do something to fix the election fraud problem, none of it will change. So I wait with bated breath for November to come, because so much is at stake and millions don't seem to even know it.

[UpInArms]

42. consider the source: Moonie Times

and those numbers definitely have been pulled out of someone's arse.

I call BS - Complete and utter BS.

:hi:

[KittyWampus]

58. I agree, this is made-up bullshit. Or they polled their subscribers.

[Lindacooks]

66. That's what I was wondering - thanks!

[MsKandice01]

2. What the fuck?

I refuse to believe that half of our country is really that stupid. I just can't believe that.

[ECH1969]

6. 52% voted for Bush

[stepnw1f]

61. I Don't Buy that Number (52%)

If you do, you believe as the sheep does in that pic of yours.

[Xeric]

7. I believe it

After all, it seems a pretty good percentage of DU'ers have fallen for the latest phase of the neocon agenda in the Middle East.

[Acadia Blue]

55. Good point.

[bennywhale]

31. 100% of the rest of the planet thinks they didn't

[Lautremont]

3. "Fifty percent of U.S. [citizens who work in the Wash Times newsroom]

say Iraq had WMDs"

They don't like to stray too far to get their polls.

[daleo]

4. Washington Times

This poll had to be rigged. They said it is a Harris poll, FWIW. There is no way a random sample could give that result - they must have polled insane asylums.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Have you ever seen what Wikipedia says about Washington Times? Funny.

~snip~
The Times was founded in 1982 by Reverend Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, to be a conservative alternative to the larger and mainstream Washington Post. To this day, it is widely perceived as maintaining a right-leaning editorial stance. By 2002, the Unification Church had spent about $1.7 billion in subsidies for the Times. <1>

Throughout its existence the Times has portrayed itself as being in a challenging rivalry with the Post. In truth, most established journalists <2> (apart from conservative columnists) do not view the Times positively<3> and would not wish to work there in light of its ownership,<4> underlying religious posture (see below), and potentially negative<5> impact on a journalist's career. Nonetheless, committed American conservatives have greatly welcomed the publication as an alternative to main stream news that many conservatives find distasteful.
(snip)

Political leanings
Editorially, The Times is politically conservative. For example, it almost always supports Republican candidates when making political endorsements. Some have cited it along with the Fox News Channel and talk radio as epitomizing the "conservative media". <8> <9> <10> <11>

Many conservatives, particularly inside the Beltway, are very grateful to the Times. Paul Weyrich has praised the Washington Times as an "antidote" to its "liberal competitor": "The Washington Post became very arrogant and they just decided that they would determine what was news and what wasn't news and they wouldn't cover a lot of things that went on. And the Washington Times has forced the Post to cover a lot of things that they wouldn't cover if the Times wasn't in existence." <12> The Times was also President Ronald Reagan's preferred newspaper.

Others tend to be much less enthusiastic. Salon.com (<13>, <14>) and The Daily Howler (examples: <15>, <16>, <17>, <18>) have published scathing analyses of what they say are serious factual errors and examples of bias in the paper's news coverage. Conservative turned liberal writer David Brock, who worked for the Times' sister publication Insight, said his book Blinded by the Right that the news writers at the Times were encouraged and rewarded for giving news stories a conservative slant. In Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy Brock wrote "the was governed by a calculatedly unfair political bias and that its journalistic ethics were close to nil." <19>
(snip)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Times

[ovidsen]

34. And almost nobody reads it

The Washington Times sells or delivers about 115,000 copies a day.

The Washington Post has a circulation of over 600,000.

The difference isn't so much because the Moonie Times is a bad paper. One some stories (local issues) it can be pretty good. It's just that it trumpets it's ideology so blatantly. People who do read it often only do so to keep tabs on the enemy (neocons, freepers, fundies).

Owner Sun Myung Moon, a man who has said he's Christ, only better; someone whose served time for a felony in the US, who isn't a US citizen, who can't speak English, who has questionable ties to North Korea, and a guy who thinks mass marriages to strangers is a good proselytizing gimmick has lost over one BILLION dollars on his paper since it's founding.

It's the sorriest excuse for a general circulation daily in the US.

[atreides1]

43. They sell for a quarter at some Metro stations

Every morning at the Metro stations they have their vendors selling copies for a quarter, when you sell bird cage lining that cheap, you would think that they would that their numbers would be higher.

[no_arbusto]

114. More like a nickel

When I first moved to MD the Times called us constantly offering us their paper for a NICKEL a day. That's less than 20 bucks a year. I didn't even know much about their politics at the time because they were such an insignificant paper. I equated them to the Tribune Review from my area (Mellon Rag in Pittsburgh), based on overall recognition, and it turned out to be true based on ideology as well. I found out that they were owned by Moon and then remembered that he was the mass wedding guy I had read about in the Guinness Book of World Records throughout my life. I've lived here for almost 3 years now and seriously know NOBODY who reads the Times. Last spring they were giving out free Times and free umbrellas at a Nationals game I went to. I shit you not that more people were using the free paper than the umbrellas for cover when the rain began on the way into RFK.

[ECH1969]

9. Here is the poll from Harris

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/

[daleo]

91. It is interesting to see the poll, and the questions.

On the whole, people's sense of things seems to have improved, but there are still these peculiar cognitive mis-alignments. For example:

Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded (pct saying yes).
2004 38
2005 36
2006 50

IRAQ INVASION MADE UNITED STATES MORE OR LESS RESPECTED ABROAD

More Respected (NET)
2004 33
2005 27
2006 28

Less Respected (NET)
2004 62
2005 68
2006 68

So, on the one hand this sample of people still buys the lies about WMD but on the other hand, they realize that the rest of the world doesn't buy that same story.

It seems like a classic case of cognitive dissonance. Two different beliefs are in conflict (recognizing that the war is wrong, but not wanting to believe that the president is a liar), and struggling for control of the same mind. It usually results in very weird behavior, until reality intrudes.

Such are the ways of a faith based electorate.

[bluestateguy]

18. Yet the same poll gives Bush a 34% approval rating

So to say that it is rigged would not be an obvious conclusion.

[BklnDem75]

36. Says it all.

I saw Moony Times as source of the article and my BS meter went code red.

[Neoma]

5. Bullshit.

[pinniped]

10. These assholes can't prove it, so fuck them all to hell.

They get their newz from the Onion.

The Onion also said Rwanda lost in the World Cup finals to Somalia.

[Biernuts]

39. Maybe they read this report

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/22/060622055545.07o4imol.html

Hundreds of chemical weapons found in Iraq: US intelligence
Jun 22 1:56 AM US/Eastern

"US-led coalition forces in Iraq have found some 500 chemical weapons since the March 2003 invasion, Republican lawmakers said, citing an intelligence report."

"Since 2003, Coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent," said an overview of the report unveiled by Senator Rick Santorum and Peter Hoekstra, head of the intelligence committee of the House of Representatives.

[LynnTheDem]

56. Except the fact that those are NOT "wmd", they were old crap

the Iraqis hadn't even remembered they had (sorta like all the chem & bio weapons the US forgot they had until dug up recently in Maryland) and gee, ya think maybe even one single person carrying a shell into the US, regardless what's inside it, would maybe get noticed & stopped?

How the fuck can a supposedly first-world nation be so fucking incredibly deeply IGNORANT???!

NO "WMD" found in Iraq. NONE.

FACT.

[Biernuts]

63. What dictionary are you using? I haven't found one that

judges WMDs by their age. They occasionally find WWI munitions in the French/German boarder areas with remaining potency.

If you think a chemical weapon from 20 years asgo is not a WMD, I invite you to host them in your neighborhood rather than in the DoD facility destroying them by high temp burning.

[NickB79]

68. If it isn't lethal, is it a WMD?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120137,00.html

"Two people were treated for "minor exposure" after the sarin incident but no serious injuries were reported. Soldiers transporting the shell for inspection suffered symptoms consistent with low-level chemical exposure, which is what led to the discovery, a U.S. official told Fox News."

WMD stands for Weapon of Mass Destruction. If the chemicals in the weapon are too degraded to cause much more than flu-like symptoms for a few days, then how is it a WMD? These soldiers were directly exposed to the degraded sarin gas, yet returned to active duty within a few days.

Shells stored in 120F heat for a decade aren't going to be all that chemically reactive anymore. Virtually all WMD's have a shelf life, and Iraqi conditions seem to have accelerated the degradation process. As an extreme example, if several million years from now an unexploded nuclear warhead is dug up intact, yet the uranium has degraded to lead and the tritium trigger is completely degraded away, is it still a WMD? Admittedly the lead could be toxic if ingested, but there is no way it could cause mass destruction.

[XNASA]

69. The French and Germans have WMD's too!!!

Run for your lives!!!!!

[Kellanved]

70. Old ammunitions are still dangerous, but they are not WMDs

But according to the reports, the degraded Iraqi ammunition which were recovered seem indeed similar to the stuff still found along the WW2 front lines. Mostly local health hazards, not WMDsM mostly non-lethal. Certainly nothing which poses a threat to people thousand miles away.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

71. Placing a response here so I don't miss the movie.

The Western. Starring Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell. Great movie.

[daleo]

94. Old bombs can still blow up

Old pesticides become inactive, especially the crude type Iraq had. Note that WWI munitions that are found are never gas shells.

[LynnTheDem]

98. mustard gas is not never has been "wmd".

NO WMD found in Iraq.

FACT.

[daleo]

92. Yes, the old "used Drano can" weapons.

It has suckered a few.

[Realityhack]

119. LOL

Wait you wern't serious were you?

[rumpel]

11. Wishful thinking -

of the lunatic fringe of the right

:evilgrin:

[ECH1969]

12. The most pathetic numbers are actually these

"In addition, 64 percent say Saddam had "strong links" with al Qaeda, up from 62 percent in October 2004."

What percent of the US public knows that Saddam was secular? What percent can find Iraq on a map?

[anotherdrew]

13. dumb, dumb dumb dumd... DUMB! surprise, we really ARE that stupid!

"Seventy-two percent of respondents said the Iraqi people are better off now than under Saddam Hussein's regime"
Presumably they refer to the iraqi citizens who remain alive?
even if so, they are each and every one wrong! They were clearly better off, Saddam's security forces never killed anything like 1000-2000 per week as we're seeing now. he was able to mostly keep the utilities on (when he could get his hands on the parts, which we spent 10 years denying, even parts to rebuild water treatment plants)

I'm way passed trusting in the wisdom of the american people, we're doomed folks. Doomed.

[classics]

14. American Unreality

Televisions should be treated like crack cocaine, people obviously have become slaves to the message.

[tuvor]

15. What was the question asked of the people polled? Doesn't say.

Might the question have reminded people that depleted (useless) WMDs from 1991 were still in Iraq at the time of bush's invasion?

I dunno, just throwing stuff out there, because I can't believe these numbers are honest.

[nosmokes]

16. why does this surprise y'all? over 40% of the GP believe in

biblical creationism because thatfits their their pre-conconceived notions. why clutter up the issue with the facts, FCOL? especially when they can they can turn on the idiot box and there are people in suits (with ties that you actually hafta tie!) telling 'em it's true!

[lonestarnot]

52. It is a mistake to put these two issues in the same post.

LOL But you go ahead on there.

[nosmokes]

72. maybe so. but i bet there's a lot of cross pollination between

the two groups.

[bluestateguy]

17. Before being allowed to vote people should have to do this:

Sign a piece of paper that says the following:

"I the undersigned hereby acknowledge that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, did not have weapons of mass destruction at anytime near the US invasion, and had no relationship with Al Qaeda."

If I had my druthers, you would have to sign that piece of paper on election day before being allowed to cast a ballot.

[LynnTheDem]

19. America; Land of a lot of incredibly ignorant morans.

And world's laughing stock.

Sigh.

Not a surprise, the dumbing down of Americans has been on-going for years. But still...how fucking embarrassing.

[TankLV]

20. 50 % are idiots. This proves it.

Who the hell cares about FACTS when you have FAITH!

[dipsydoodle]

21. Guess maybe they think they're the same as

BLT's :rofl:

[Zorra]

23. More evidence that watching Fox News makes you stupid. n/t

[Guaranteed]

25. This is laughable. Don't believe it. nt

[grytpype]

26. If Iraq was not a total catastrophe on the ground, it would have been a

big win for Bush.

Makes me f*cking sick.

[Le Taz Hot]

27. The Moonie Times????

Oy!

[xchrom]

28. ok -- rigged or unrigged -- the problem is that 50% or better

of americans are appallingly incapable of ingesting accurate information -- especially about something as critical as an election or a war.

they are willfully ignorant -- driving their SUVS to and fro -- going about their corporate jobs -- and just living in a cloud of self induced ignorance.

[GeorgeGist]

29. Shakes head, rolls eyes, and ...

walks away. It's too pathetic for words.

[wellst0nev0ter]

112. I'm Saying This In The Most Restrained Way Possible

WHAT IN THE EVER LIVING FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE INSUFFERABLE FUCKING MORONS!!!!!!

[Roland99]

33. Half still think Saddam was behind 9/11!! Check out this poll's results

(from another online board):

View Poll Results:
Do you believe that Iraq(Saddam) had ANY (direct,indirect,none) involvment in 9/11?
None whatsoever 69 46.62%
Indirect 63 42.57%
Direct 15 10.14%
Other 1 0.68%

[Vinca]

35. Somewhere in the country they're giving away lobotomies.

Anyone buying this cart load of WMD crap at this point is truly, truly stupid or suffering from a worsening mental state. Are the Harris Poll people visiting state hospitals?

[niallmac]

37. How much of the American public are vidiots?

I suggest that more than half the voting population lets the television
think for them. Not a lot of independent processing.
The corporate run television news media know very well on what topics
the public is misinformed and has the power to correct this situation.
The fact is they do not want to.

[Puglover]

38. Breaking

50 percent of the population of the US are Total. Fucking. Morons.

[dmoded]

40. so whats their point? he wasn't looking to attack, period.

every freaking country has wmd's, maybe a small few but the US and Israel may be the biggest hypocrites atm, im hearing of some poisonous weapons israel is using on lebanon atm.. as they have said, total disproportiate use of force..

so anyways cuz saddam has wmd's, bush uses tons of his wmd's during shock and awe. .. hmm!

that alone is enough to have a freeper put their head up their unwashed asses.

peece.

[michaelpush]

41. As unbelieveable as this sounds

It is about right. That is why I have so little hope for our countrys future, its just so depressing to even think about! I am afraid the gene pool hasnt been in our favor!

[PurityOfEssence]

44. Hey, 89% think there's a god

We're fun, aren't we?

[Jacobin]

45. Moonie Poll Alert

That is utter bullshit.

I don't believe it.

Half the 'backwash' in my community no longer believes that crap, and I would bet the poll numbers on WMDs are more like 20%, the die hard idiots

[rodeodance]

46. Seems the RW has re-convinced some people. sad--but dangerous

if this is tread.

[Julius Civitatus]

47. Washington Times is extremely unreliable - please dismiss this poll

as cheap Republican propaganda.

[stop the bleeding]

48. I give up

64 percent say Saddam had "strong links" with al Qaeda, up from 62 percent in October 2004.:wtf:

[rodeodance]

49. rcall when Santorium went on Senate floor with this 'news flash"--!

The survey did not speculate on what caused the shift in opinion, which supports President Bush's original rationale for going to war. Respondents were questioned in early July after the release of a Defense Department intelligence report that revealed coalition forces recovered 500 aging chemical weapons containing mustard or sarin gas nerve agents in Iraq.
"Filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist," said Sen. Ri,,,,,,

[rodeodance]

50. Here is the reason why--San. and Hoekstra are actively pushing this

idea once again! (and people believe).


....The survey did not speculate on what caused the shift in opinion, which supports President Bush's original rationale for going to war. Respondents were questioned in early July after the release of a Defense Department intelligence report that revealed coalition forces recovered 500 aging chemical weapons containing mustard or sarin gas nerve agents in Iraq.
"Filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist," said Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Republican, during a June 21 press conference detailing the newly declassified information.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, who shared the podium, said, "Iraq was not a WMD-free zone."
In recent weeks, the Michigan Republican has recommended that more material confiscated since the invasion be declassified and made public, including a 1998 standing order to Iraqi officials to hide or destroy weapons and thus evade inspectors from the United Nations.

[rodeodance]

51. "-- up from 36 percent last year, a Harris poll finds."-- These are scary

numbers

[warrens]

53. More proof: Half of the American people are idiots

There has been ZERO evidence. This is all right-wing bullshit that is somehow leaking into regular news.

[KansDem]

54. "The United States of Willful Ignorance"

Our new name...:(

[VegasWolf]

57. 50% of Americans have at best a high school education. Why listen to them?

[gasperc]

59. oh it's washington Times, I almost soiled myself

fucking lying shits

[demo dutch]

60. It must be working!

[ForPeace]

62. Makes no sense

Polls are supposed to measure opinion. Polls about facts are always suspect. What sense does it make to ask how many people believe the sun goes round the earth? It's just a measure of people's ignorance. Might as well ask how many people don't know their a** from a hole in the ground. Seems as if they are asking an idiotic question just to get people to consider that it might be true. I've forgotten who said "You are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts", but that one stuck in my mind.

[krkaufman]

64. "Americans remain in touch with the realities of Iraq"

What the hell kind of statement is that -- "Americans remain in touch with the realities of Iraq" -- in the middle of an article detailing polling results that show many Americans to be deluded...

72% of Americans think Iraqis are better off now
64% think Saddam had strong links to al Qaeda
50% think Iraq/Saddam had WMDs

And then there's this statement...

... the Harris poll offered some positive feedback on Iraq. Seventy-two percent of respondents said the Iraqi people are better off now than under Saddam Hussein's regime -- a figure similar to that of 2004, when it stood at 76 percent.

How exactly is it "positive feedback on Iraq" that the opinion of the American people is wildly unrealistic? With Iraqi leaders saying that their country is on the verge of partitioning and open civil war, I'm thinking Iraqis' view of the pre/post-Saddam eras may differ dramatically.

The only way this statistic is "positive" is if it's being used as a measure of the success of White House, Fox News and Washington Times propaganda.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

65. Even more than that believe there's some guy in the sky with a long beard

who's watching their every move...

Agent Mike? When did you grow a beard?

Sorry, I believe that today's average American is pitifully stupid. This does not surprise me.

[lumberjack_jeff]

67. They believe because their government lies to them.

It's the worst kind of malfeasance.

[Solly Mack]

73. Brings index finger slowly down to connect with thumb..squeezes

I'm pinching their heads. I'm pinching their heads. Pop!Pop!

Well, I feel better anyway.

[Moderator]

74. Kick

[AtomicKitten]

75. New Harris Poll: Half of Americans STILL Believe Iraq had WMD

Harris Poll: Half of Americans Still Believe Iraq Had WMD

By E&P Staff

Published: July 25, 2006 10:40 AM ET

NEW YORK Despite several years of official and press reports to the contrary, a new Harris poll finds that half of adult Americans still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) when the United States invaded the country in 2003.

This is actually up from 36% last year, a Harris poll finds. The polling company itself called this "surprising" -- considering that no WMD were ever found and U.S. inspectors have confirmed the non-existence of active weapons.

In early summer, there were reports that 500 shells once containing mustard or sarin gas nerve agents were found buried long ago in Iraq but they were judged by experts and military officials as decrepit and useless by 2003.

In another finding wildly diverging from most expert opinion and media reports, Harris found that 64% said Saddam Hussein had "strong links" with al-Qaeda, up from 62% in October 2004.

The poll of 1,020 adults was conducted July 5 to 11 and has a margin of error of three percentage points.

E&P Staff http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/
via http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002878773

[Vickers]

76. "This is actually up from 36% last year"

:wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf:

[SaveElmer]

77. Hopefully...

It's the same half that doesn't vote!

[AX10]

78. How exactly did that number rise?

I call Bullshit!

[Kagemusha]

87. Because Santorum bellowed to the heavens WMD had been found.

etc.

[WCGreen]

79. This is a reflection on the news media....

How poorly they are conveying reality to the masses....

I be they all know the name of Tom and Katies daughter...

Or who Jen is getting boned by now...

What type eye liner Johnny Depp prefers....

Oy....

[emulatorloo]

82. Cable news is totally complicit with Bush admin

we see it day after day.

[acmejack]

80. I heard 72% thought Iraqis were better off now than before we invaded!

yeah, they prefer having intermittent electricity for part of the day and no running water. Rampant lawlessness, no problem, they love it. Are people nuts?

[bluestateguy]

81. Fourth time this has been posted

[acmejack]

84. Thanks, I'll make a note.

[AtomicKitten]

85. this poll was released six hours ago

I searched DU and couldn't find it. Can you enlighten me where it is posted exactly?

[acmejack]

88. delete

[AtomicKitten]

89. self-delete

[acmejack]

95. I'm stupid sorry

[AtomicKitten]

96. me too - sorry, I really did look for this - doh!

[AtomicKitten]

97. This is the basis of the torture and mistreatment by our soldiers in Iraq.

They have been convinced Iraqis are our enemy.

Also this is what buoys Junior's poll numbers (such as they are).

Democrats really need to get out and re-educate the public.

[Joanne98]

83. Americans are the dumbest people on earth.

[acmejack]

86. If there were any doubts, this pretty much put them to rest.

They must bathe in kool-aid. It just totally blows my mind, I simply cannot grasp how people can be so misinformed in this, allegedly the information age.

[Jack Rabbit]

90. This is very disturbing

How many Americans think the world is flat?

[classysassy]

100. Half of the Americans are still in

the dark age.

[Marie26]

93. Dear God

What is wrong with people? It seems like as our guilt over Iraq goes up, our need to believe the war was justified goes up as well.

[L0oniX]

99. WE BROUGHT WMD's TO IRAQ !

It's called DU = Depleted uranium which has a half life of 4.5 billion years. The Iraq people and our service men and women will be sick and will die from this stuff. Of course our gov will say that it isn't harm full. Yea right! I wish those 50% of Americans would just STFU cause they don't know shit! Here's some links for those who wish to check up on DU or just Google "depleted uranium".
http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/ud_main.html
http://idust.net/

:nuke:

[Seabiscuit]

101. Are most Americans terminally stupid???

The results of this poll seem like something out of the Twilight Zone.

[sakabatou]

102. Of course Iraq had WMD, but after '96

They were pretty much useless.

[robertarctor]

103. This is how the GOP worms its propaganda points into the mainstream.

The GOP disinformationist bureau stovepipes a bogus poll into the Moonie Times. Then, people cite the article and begin talking about it. Wingnut radio opinionists pick up the memes and start hammering them through the media echo chamber, and wingnut columnists repeat the talking points as fact, and Roger Ailes' GOP Foxaganda network blasts the talking points to that network's audience of sheep. Then, the neocons' fellow travelers in the more mainstream (non-Fox) media pick up the memes and push them as fact. And then, bullshit becomes the new reality.

Iraq had WMDs? Of course. And we have always been at war with Oceania.

[killbotfactory]

104. Had? By "had" do they mean in the 80's or when we invaded?

goddamn washington times.

[MarkDevin]

105. 50% of U.S. is ignorant and brainwashed.

[renegade000]

107. Washington Times...end of story

eom

[Tight_rope]

109. LMBAO...Now if this ain't "BULLSHIT"...what is!

[genieroze]

110. Where did they poll, nut houses?

[samsingh]

111. they are soooo stupid

[Patchuli]

113. So they just believe that idiot Santorum?

They deserve whatever they get but leave ME out of it!!! How freaking dumb can people be?!

[yellowcanine]

117. I'll bet more than that think God gave the 10 Commandments to Charleton

Hesston.

[Omaha Steve]

118. Quick poll

I believe in UFOs. They believe. Who has a better chance of being correct?

[Mr_Spock]

120. Oh, well

You can lead an elephant to water...

[pinniped]

121. Kool-Aid drinking assclowns.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/06/national/a092300D42.DTL

POS FAUX

"ARE SADDAM HUSSEIN'S WMDS NOW IN HEZBOLLAH'S HANDS?" asked the headline, lingering for long minutes on TV screens in a million American homes.