Saddam and 9/11

[KelvinG]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm

Nearly seven in 10 Americans believe it is likely that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, says a poll out almost two years after the terrorists' strike against this country.

It's nice to see that most Americans don't let something as inconsequential as total lack of evidence get in the way of them forming an opinion.

[corplinx]

Originally posted by KelvinG
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm



It's nice to see that most Americans don't let something as inconsequential as total lack of evidence get in the way of them forming an opinion.


I have never understood this. There isn't any evidence that Saddam was connected with 9-11 nor has any major political player speculated as such.

On the downside, the Saudi involvement with 9-11 is becoming more clear and the average american probably can't find that country on a map.

[EvilYeti]

Originally posted by corplinx

On the downside, the Saudi involvement with 9-11 is becoming more clear and the average american probably can't find that country on a map.

I'm sure our president can. He probably even has little heart stickers and glitter all over it on his Rand-McNally globe.

[Ziggurat]

Originally posted by KelvinG
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm

It's nice to see that most Americans don't let something as inconsequential as total lack of evidence get in the way of them forming an opinion.

Never believe anything about a poll if you haven't read the actual poll itself. Even then be VERY suspicious - most polls are written with a slant, and people will gladly follow the slant they percieve in the poll. It's like those consumer testimonials, where they bring a product to a mall and ask people what they think, people almost always respond that it's great (Penn & Teller's show did one were they put snails on people's faces as a "mask" skin treatment and people said they could feel it working), because they want to give the answer they think the questioner is looking for. It's VERY hard to figure out what people really think about this sort of stuff, particularly if they don't have strong opinions already, and it's VERY easy to slant it heavily in one direction or the other. My intuition, for what it's worth, is that some people think Saddam is connected, some don't, but the majority probably don't know but respond to the slant in the poll.

[zakur]

Read the poll data here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/vault/stories/data082303.htm).

The question asked was:How likely is it that Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks? Would you say that it is very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely, or not at all likely?Of the 1003 respondents, 32% said 'very likely,' 37% said 'somewhat likely.'