According to a story in today’s The Independent on Sunday, a poll conducted by the University of Maryland showed most American respondents surveyed were unaware of the testimony of David Kay, the administration’s chief weapons inspector, that he had found no weapons, or that of Richard Clarke, the former counter-terrorism czar whose book Against All Enemies has been the talk of Washington for the past month.
A staggering 82 per cent of respondents believed most experts supported the notion that Iraq was providing “substantial support” to al-Qa’ida — a contention that President Bush has been forced to disavow. Almost 60 per cent were unaware that world opinion was against the war in Iraq, with 21 per cent saying the world was behind the U.S.-led invasion and 38 per cent saying views were “evenly divided”.
The poll also showed a correlation between Americans’ ignorance and their political affiliation. Among those who believed WMD had been found in Iraq, 72 per cent said they would vote to re-elect President Bush in November, while 23 per cent said they supported his Democratic challenger, John Kerry. Among those who knew that no WMD had been found, 74 per cent supported Mr. Kerry and 23 per cent backed the President.
Steven Kull, director of the U.S.-based Program on International Policy Attitudes, comments: “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. 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.”

Raymond Tomlin

Raymond Tomlin is a veteran journalist and educator who has written frequently on the political realm — municipal, provincial and federal — as well as on cinema, mainstream popular culture, the arts, and technology.

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