Sizeable Minorities Still Believe Saddam Hussein Helped Plan 9/11, Had WMD

[sweetm2475]

Sizeable Minorities Still Believe Saddam Hussein Had Strong Links to Al Qaeda, Helped Plan 9/11 and Had Weapons of Mass Destruction

SOURCE Harris Interactive
Web Site: http://www.harrisinteractive.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-29-2005/0004240417&EDATE=


However, the numbers have fallen substantially this year

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- More than four years after the
attacks of September 11, 2001, many U.S. adults still believe some of the
justifications for the invasion of Iraq, which have now been discredited,
according to a new Harris Poll. For example:

-- Forty-one percent (41%) of U.S. adults believe that Saddam Hussein had
"strong links to Al Qaeda."
-- Twenty-two percent (22%) of adults believe that Saddam Hussein "helped
plan and support the hijackers who attacked the United States on
September 11."
-- Twenty-six percent (26%) of adults believe that Iraq "had weapons of
mass destruction when the U.S. invaded."
-- Twenty-four percent (24%) of all adults believe that "several of the
hijackers who attacked the United States on September 11 were Iraqis."

However, all of these beliefs and others have declined sharply since the
questions were asked in February 2005. For example:
-- Those who think Saddam Hussein had strong links to Al Qaeda have fallen
from 64 to 41 percent.
-- Those who believe that Iraq was a serious threat to U.S. security are
down from 61 to 48 percent.
-- Those who think Saddam Hussein helped plan 9/11 are down from 47 to
22 percent.
-- Those who think Iraq had weapons of mass destruction are down from
36 to 26 percent.
-- Those who think Iraqi hijackers attacked the United States on 9/11 have
fallen from 44 to 24 percent.

Although public support for the war in Iraq has been waning, a 56 percent
majority of all adults believe that "the Iraqis are better off now than they
were under Saddam Hussein." However, this has also fallen from 76 percent
since February.
These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,961 U.S. adults
surveyed online between December 8 and 14, 2005 by Harris Interactive(R).
These new poll findings and trends show how slowly most people change
their minds once they believe something to be true. Nevertheless, they also
show that, over time, beliefs can change greatly.