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December 31, 2005
This is what we're up against
WSJ.com - Many Americans Still Believe Hussein Had Links to al Qaeda
Sizeable minorities of Americans still believe Saddam Hussein had "strong links to al Qaeda," a Harris Interactive poll shows, though the number has fallen substantially this year. About 22% of U.S. adults believe Mr. Hussein helped plan 9/11, the poll shows, and 26% believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded. Another 24% believe several of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis, according to the online poll of 1,961 adults. However, all of these beliefs have declined since February of this year, when 64% of those polled believed Mr. Hussein had strong links to al Qaeda and 46% said Mr. Hussein helped plan 9/11. At that time, more than a third said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and 44% said several of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis. Currently, 56% of adults believe Iraqis are better off now than they were under Mr. Hussein, down from 76% in February. Nearly half of those polled say they believe Iraq, under Mr. Hussein, was a threat to U.S. security, down from 61% in February.Ironically, I had a long conversation about this with an acquaintance who is in that 22% just the other day. She is a well educated pleasant woman who I have known for some time. She intitiated the conversation after recently learning that we that we disagreed, because she was genuinely interested in discussing the issues.
I was dumbfounded by her lack of understanding that Iraq was a secular nation that was as much an enemy of Osama bin Laden as the United States was. I gave her fact after fact, but she very nicely refused to accept the facts, questioning the motives of every source I cited, from the Downing Street Memo to the news that French and German intelligence warned that reports that Sadam had weapons of mass destruction were questionable at best.
The conversation went beyond Iraq. For a moment I thought we had found common ground when the subject of lobbyists came up and the damage corporate special interests are inflicting on our economy. But she is under the impression that the biggest lobbying group is the one promoting the "gay agenda".
We did agree that the exchange of ideas and expressing differences of opinion is a large part of what makes this a great country. I pointed out that there are those who believe that Democrats and Progressives are not patriotic, but they are mistaken. We love this country and want the best for it, but disagree with those who support the adminsitration as to the what is best for the country.
I'm going to keep the dialogue open. As the Abramoff, DeLay, Ohio coingate and Treasongate scandals unfold, maybe, just maybe, she will be ready to accept the truths she is trying so hard to deny.
Posted by Lyn Wall at December 31, 2005 08:45 AM | Permalink
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Comments
did you ever determine the source of her beliefs? i suspect it's one of the Radical Right Radio stations - Coulter, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, or their ilk.
Until they are discredited/imprisoned, and shown to be the manipulators/liars they are, the uphill battle will continue.
Posted by: Gene Bob at December 31, 2005 10:39 AM
It was clear that she was getting her news from right wing radio and fox.
Posted by: Lyn Wall at January 1, 2006 03:40 PM