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----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Henwood
To: lbo-talk
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 3:19 PM
Subject: [lbo-talk] lots of Americans believe WMDs have been found!
[This stuff gets more surreal every day. Via Sam Smith's Progressive Review.]
<http://www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp>
A PIPA-Knowledge Networks poll finds that 68% continue to approve of the
decision to go to war with Iraq. However, only 50% said that they were
somewhat (29%) or very (21%) certain that "when the US government presented
the evidence to justify going to war with Iraq, it was. . . not being
misleading." Another 5% said they were not very certain. . . Steven Kull,
director of PIPA comments, "Enthusiasm about the success of the war may be
offset by the failure to find evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction
or links to al' Qaeda."
Kull continues, "For some Americans, their desire to support the war may be
leading them to screen out information that weapons of mass destruction have
not been found." While 59% of those polled correctly said the US has not
found Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, 41% said they believed that the US
has found such weapons (34%) or were unsure (7%). While 69% correctly said
that Iraq had not used chemical or biological weapons in the war, 31% said
they believed Iraq had (22%) or were unsure (9%). Kull adds, "Given the
intensive news coverage and high levels of public attention to the topic,
this level of misinformation suggests that some Americans may be avoiding
having an experience of cognitive dissonance."
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