Why do half of the American public still think Saddam was linked to Al Qaeda and had WMD?

Question

Please avoid the abusive answers here. It’s a genuine question, not an attack on the US.

A recent poll in America asked people what they feel the relationship was between Saddam Hussein & Al Qaeda.

18% of US citizens believe Saddam Hussein was directly involved in the 9/11 attacks
32% believe Saddam gave substantial support to Al Qaeda
Only 14% of those asked knew there was no connection at all

Another question asked whether people believed Saddam had WMD before the Iraq war:

28% of American’s said YES – he had WMD
23% said he had a major WMD development program in operation before the war
Only 14% stated Saddam was found to have no WMD or active WMD program

That means over 50% of American’s still link Saddam to 9/11 or to Al Qaeda and 50% think he had WMD or an active WMD program.

I doubt anybody in Britain would link Saddam to 9/11 or believe he had WMD.

Why is this?

Source:

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14319

I'm not asking whether we should have started the war.

I'm also not suggesting Saddam never had WMD. I know we sold him WMD in the 1980's.

The question is clear. It's about Saddam having WMD just before the 2003 war. It's also about Saddam and Al Qaeda and 9/11.

shy_angeleyes - That's a pathetic answer. Can't anyone ask a question about Saddam without unintelligent responses.

I have never liked Saddam. Read the question again!

If it's too complex for you, then move onto something easier.

** Update **

Magime - That is the most simplistic and uneducated opinion I've seen. It's pure fantasy to say Bin Laden & Saddam must have been linked, just because they come from nations of a mostly Islamic faith.

Haven't you noticed Sunni and Shia Muslim's don't get on that well? And they live in the same nation!

Saddam was secular, Osama was fundamentalist. They hated each other - it's on the record.

Even George Bush admits Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11 and had no WMD at the time of invasion.

You need to try and do some research. It worries me that some people don't have even the slightest idea of what's going on in Iraq.

Answer 1

well here goes ,this is my theory but i don`t think anyone will like it .I think theres a large section of the American public who are brought up on brain washing techniques I`m talking about the Christians here Theres a vast difference between an American and a European Christian in America from the age when little children start to think for them selves American Christian children are taught the opposite .There religion instills in them this absolute unquestioning faith to the degree even when faced with an indisputable fact they have a mental block which will never let them see the truth
on top of this from starting school they have it drummed into them that they must be patriotic Schools and every where else displays the flag films media etc show them America the great and just and always on the side of good
so when their president repeatedly associates Muslim and terror ,terror and AL Qaeda, AL Qaeda WMD ,WMD and Saddam
It all gets deeply embedded in their subconscious where they can`t separate the fact from the fiction because that's the way they their brain was manipulated to work when they were children This is how a lot of Americans think they still can`t grasp the fact that they didn`t single handedly save Europe from the Nazis and no one will convince them otherwise

Answer 2

I think it started out with the use of the faulty information used by Bush to invade Iraq and went on from there. Many people weren't aware of Saddam's use of these weapons before the Gulf War until we were getting ready go back. They don't understand that he did have them at one point in time but there weren't any regualtions on them until after the Gulf War. They don't understand that there were weapons he was still allowed to have under the UN Resolutions that Bush thought he had violated and because of this when they see pictures of missles they automatically assume they are the infamous banned WMD's. They don't seem to know that Saddam was allowed to keep some weapons for the purpose of national defense and as far as I know the weapons in those pictures are those very weapons.

Another thing that I think has a lot to do with it is that they see the Iraq War as part of the War on Terror. Many people in America have developed and 'us vs. them' attitude so when they here the Sunni link (as someone demonstrated in an earlier answer) they automatically assume that all or most Sunni's are terrorists. Some even go over the top by assuming all Arabs and Muslims are the enemy even though the majority of them aren't terrorists.

Answer 3

I think it is because many people are so busy, they don't pay attention to the news. My dad leaves at 6:30 AM, gets home at 6:30 PM, and by the time hes ready for dinner, its 7:30, after the news. Then he goes to bed early to be able to wale up early. My mom works 12+ hours a day and doesn't have much time either. They know that Saddam and 9/11 weren't linked. I knew that, even in 7th or 8th grade. People think they are linked, because they are, in a way. After the 9/11 attacks, people began fearing attacks, and (Bush's favorite phrase) Middle Eastern countries with WMDs. In searching for WMDs, conflict arose with Saddam. Though he did not have anything to do with Al Qaeda, or Afghanistan.

Answer 4

it was about oil prices. US still has the lowest gas prices compared to other countries. we also have more cars, factories, and more oil based uses in this country. it wasn't about 9/11, there is no link with Sadam and the sort called Al Queda or Bin Laden. President Bush went in to Iraq to finish what his father couldn't do, which was to rid of the Sadam regime. President Bush Jr. admitted after several search for WMD, that there were no WMD in Iraq, and he laughed about it. You know, that the trillions of dollars that the US spent could have been used for something other than war efforts, like a universal health care which would have cost a third of the 9 trillion dollars the US spent.

Answer 5

In the Name of God, The Most Merciful!
Well, here the point is that political consience of a fellow American is simplistic and the influence of mass media like CNN or CBS, that propagate Bush's official political course, is very strong.
I doubt whether Americans even knew where Iraq was. Some American friends of mine seriously thought that Iraq was near Afghanistan.
That is the main cause why Americans are misled and have no adequate idea on what is really going on in Muslim world. Maybe, it would be very useful for Administration to try to understand the problems and needs of Muslims and Arabs in particular.
Saddam had nothing to do with Usamah bin Ladin, because he was a Baathist and thus a kafir (an infidel). And Usamah is an Islamist, i.e. he believes in establishing an Islamic Caliphate. Ánd the duty of a Muslim as he supposes to kill all the infidels and impose fundamental Islam and Sharia upon those who survive.
The main mistake of US policy is that it is too overstretching its power capabilities. That may very much lead to destruction of US as a last Empire in the coming 20 years. Ex-security advisor Z. Brzezinski has also supposed that in his remarkable book "The Grand Chessboard". So for overcoming such opinion on Iraq and al-Qaeda I would recommend this book and also books of Jason Burke as well - he gives interesting and simple-to catch insight into al-Qaeda, which has transformed itself from a movement of radicals into ideology. This way one could have overcome the mistaken comprehension of world affairs by Americans.
Peace be upon You!

Answer 6

Because lots of people read blogs and take them for fact. Personally, I believe he had WMD, but beginning in 1991 began smuggling them to Syria disguised as humanitarian aid. I know of no link between Saddam and 9/11. Information about Saddam and al-Qaeda is a great deal murkier. Saddam was believed to have operated training camps in the desert before the war, but when the soldiers reached the sites, they had been abandoned. Most of the Western world believed Saddam had WMD before the war. The argument was about what to do about it.
Saddam was a brilliant schemer. He was very intelligent and extremely shrewd. You don't stay dictator for that long without developing certain skills. I have no doubt he pulled the wool over everyone's eyes more than once. For all the good it did him.

Answer 7

Until you can show the full extent of Al Qaeda"s operations and also show that Saddam Hussein was outside those limits, it may be difficult to show that they were two separate things.

The other question on WMD is like trying to show the exact moment of morning. How many people have to be killed before the killing-device can be called one of "mass destruction"? How about a child with thirty pounds of explosives sitting in a crowded mall?

Remember the adage, " The world cannot know what you are, the world can only judge by what you appear to be." The truth of that statement is reflected in most of the verdicts of juries in our criminal courts.

Until definite and positive evidence appears, that's all we have.

Answer 8

Your question is very much like the media stream,misinformation,More then 50% of N American people do not believe 911 was done by Iraq or an out sider, these same people know that 911 was done by the Bush administration to get an excuse to invade Iraq and loot it's oil acoording to;
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7866929448192753501
Therefore to say that 50% still think that what Bush said before the invasion, is misinformation, so please,look at the change in the official elected to seat in congress,they are and were skeptical of Bush's acusations which now have been proven untrue.. So no, not 50% believe Saddam had ties to WMD's but only a handful.

Answer 9

I can't give an answer, but I can provide symptoms. Some of this may seem sarcastic, but it really is not intended to be so. In order to believe the lies and deceptions, I'd probably have to:

1. be pretty fed up with the way this country is going and want to support somebody who "claims" to stand for decent values.

2. believe that our elected officials are actually selected by God, and therefore lead us with integrity. We need to fully trust and support them.

3. believe that the Muslims are a threat to Christianity.

4. fear Muslims (from hearing about earlier decapitations).

5. believe that it is "either us or them." There is no way to live in harmony with "the other."

6. believe this is Clinton's fault. (Clilnton was not forceful enough against earlier terroristic attempts and activities).

7. believe we are doing Iraqis a favor and liberating them from an evil ruler.

8. believe much of what Rush Limbaugh says.

9. trust and believe what I see and hear on network news such as FOX.

10. believe that America can usually do no wrong (as we were often taught in our history books in the 60s and 70s).

11. be a little ignorant of Middle Eastern history (in a sense that I have no real understanding of why Saddam attacked Kuwait).

12. believe that America may not be perfect, but we are headed in the right direction.

13. feel it is important to defend Israel at all costs.

14. be unaware of the fact that multination corporations (not citizens and their leaders) actually run the world, and be ignorant of the fact that since America has invaded Iraq and disposed of the Taliban, oil corporations have built major distributions lines through Iraq - from the Caspian to Pakistan which earlier they were prohibited from doing!

With these notions in mind, I'd probably believe or choose to believe the earlier allegations, because it would give credence to America's behaviors based on my belief system.

I don't believe or agree with nearly any of this (except for #14), btw, I'm just attempting to analyze the situation.

Answer 10

The British Public are better informed Politically and show a greater interest in Global affairs. I believe that is the main reason .Too many Americans however are easily swayed by a belief that thier superiority in wealth and arms could easily deal with any Nation on Earth who dared to menace them.They grew up feeling invincible and less fearful of any threat that they need worry about Hence there are fewer Americans who feel the need to gain a qualification. Mis-information was being peddled by Political Leaders to arouse American & British anger