Why in the world would someone think Iraq was behind 9-11?

Question

It sounds crazy, I know, but I just finished a job reading high school essays from the state of North Carolina, and I was shocked by how many students believed that Iraq was responsible for 9-11. Is it their fault for being so ignorant, or have they been tricked by the administration and goofball conservative media like Limbaugh, Hannity, Fox News etc?

Buttercup, go to google and do some research about where the 9-11 hijackers were from.

Answer 1

Amazing that you blame the conservative media. Bin Laden was behind 9-11 and Saddam being a ruthless leader was the reason we invaded Iraq. To be fair, they're just high school students. Many of them were between the ages of 10-14 when the war first started and probably weren't really into politics.

Answer 2

These are high school kids, most of whom probably don't remember a lot about 9/11 or the invasion of Iraq (both events happened while they were in middle school, maybe even grade school). It would seem to me that if you have no idea of what the circumstances behind the invasion of Iraq are, that the incorrect conclusion made would be a logical one. Think about it, we are attacked on 9/11 then we attack Iraq so Iraq must have been partially responsible for 9/11. While this clearly was not the case, it could be an easy mistake to make. I don't think you can blame the conservative media, this is just a lack of knowledge about the topic followed by an incorrect conclusion.

Maybe explain to them why we actually attacked Iraq, their failure to meet their end of the ceasefire agreement after Operation Desert Storm by verifying that their WMD program was dismantled through the inspections process. We believed that Iraq's possession of WMD (which proved to be untrue) was a threat.

Answer 3

Why?

Because the Bushies said so, several times a day, every day, for months and months and months.

A LOT of people still think this.

The media did little or nothing to get the truth known.

Notice how many answers repeat this clear falsehood.

Polls have shown that a LOT of people (not just high school students) believe this.

Not only did the Bushies explicitly say it over and over, but in more subtle ways, they've always linked Iraq to "terror" and 9/11, just by talking about them all together in the same breath.

And the administration and media keep babbling about Al Quaeda when they talk about Iraq, even though they are small players there.

People think all terrorists and insurgents are part of one big organization, Al Quaeda -- yet another lie they've been told over and over.

It's not just the wing-nut press, either; it's all the mainstream press.

Answer 4

As a high school teacher, it is discouraging.

Today's high school students, en masse, are not concerned with world politics, their education, or a lot of other things that they should be interested in. They are interested in having a good time. Maybe we were the same way when we were that age, but this generation seems to be more skewed to the 'good time' end.

I am not surprised they think Iraq was behind 9/11. They do not pay attention to detail or discriminate. They may know Iraq is part of the Muslim world and al-Qaeda is part of the Muslim world. Therefore, Iraq = al-Qaeda = 9/11.

Answer 5

I blame all the media, including the liberal media, for not being clear enough about this. Iraq is responsible for some terrorism in general, but not for 9/11 in particular. But people aren't sophisticated enough to distinguish between terrorist groups. They act like 9/11 was the only act of terrorism that ever happened.

Answer 6

Actually, I have a video clip some where of Rumsfeld saying there is a connection between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein. This of course turned out to be untrue, and from all investigations it was made up out of thin air to gain support from the American people to invade Iraq. This was one of the main reasons the Bush administration gave for invading Iraq and this reason, along with many others turned out to be false and based on lies, not poor intelligence, but information drawn up out of thin air to scam the American people into supporting the war.

Answer 7

Actually, the fact is that they are being "educated" in public schools.

The president, his adminstration, Limbaugh, Hannity and Fox have NEVER said Iraq was behind 9/11. Nor have they implied such. The facts overwhelmingly show that you're accusation is not reality-based.

Perhaps it's just that they're being "educated" by a bunch of union members who, studies show, had the lowest test scores and academic achievement compared to college students in other majors.

Answer 8

Nice try, but neither the administration, Limbaugh, Hannity, Fox News, etc EVER linked Iraq to 9-11. Was Al Quaeda welcome in Iraq by Saddam? Yes he was. And they also had training camps there. No one ever claimed that Saddam knew of the plans for 9-11. Would I be surprised if Saddam did know about it? No way, but there has been no proof. MAYBE those students (if that's a true story), came to the conclusion themselves. Maybe they thought it was a possibility.

Answer 9

Only the sheep that the wolves and leopards tell to enter their dens because they want to be their friend would believe such a stupid, profoundly wrong and evidently disastrous rubbish.

Iraq, has been the biggest single mistake any US president has made in history. Having been caught up in a lie, this administration will sacrifice anything, anyone and the reputation of the USA rather than admit it's folly.

Answer 10

Only a dim wit wouldn't have suspected that he might have something to do with it. It was later, after a few weeks, realized and stated over and over and over and over by Bush that there was no links. I guess all it takes is one dim wit to say that Bush thinks Iraq caused 911 and it become the mantra for the ill informed parrots.