|
|
Harris Poll: Many Still Believe Hussein Had
Links to al Qaeda
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
December 29, 2005
Sizeable minorities of Americans still believe Saddam Hussein had "strong
links to al Qaeda," a Harris Interactive poll shows, though the number has
fallen substantially this year.
About 22% of U.S. adults believe Mr. Hussein helped plan 9/11, the poll
shows, and 26% believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S.
invaded. Another 24% believe several of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis,
according to the online poll of 1,961 adults.
However, all of these beliefs have declined since February of this year,
when 64% of those polled believed Mr. Hussein had strong links to al Qaeda and
46% said Mr. Hussein helped plan 9/11. At that time, more than a third said
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and 44% said several of the 9/11 hijackers
were Iraqis.
Currently, 56% of adults believe Iraqis are better off now than they were
under Mr. Hussein, down from 76% in February. Nearly half of those polled say
they believe Iraq, under Mr. Hussein, was a threat to U.S. security, down from
61% in February.
See the full results of the Harris poll:
"Do you believe that the following statements
are true or not true?"
(Total percentages saying "true")
Base: All Adults
|
October 2004 |
February 2005 |
December 2005 |
| The Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam
Hussein. |
76% |
76% |
56% |
| Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, was a serious threat to U.S.
security. |
63 |
61 |
48 |
| Saddam Hussein had strong links with Al Qaeda. |
62 |
64 |
41 |
| Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who
attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001. |
41 |
47 |
22 |
| Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S.
invaded. |
38 |
36 |
26 |
| Several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11
were Iraqis. |
37 |
44 |
24 |
* * *
"Do you believe that the following statements
are true or not true?"
Base: All Adults
|
True |
Not True |
Not Sure |
Decline To Answer |
| The Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam
Hussein |
56% |
16% |
25% |
3% |
| Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, was a serious threat to U.S. |
48 |
35 |
15 |
2 |
| Saddam Hussein had strong links with Al Qaeda |
41 |
33 |
24 |
2 |
| Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.s.
invaded |
26 |
50 |
22 |
2 |
| Several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11
were Iraqis |
24 |
42 |
31 |
3 |
| Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who
attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001 |
22 |
46 |
30 |
2 |
Methodology:
This poll was conducted online in the U.S. between December 8 and 14, 2005,
among a nationwide cross section of 1,961 adults. Figures for age, sex, race,
education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to align
them with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score
weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. In
theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95% certainty
that the results have a sampling error of +/- 2 percentage points of what they
would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete
accuracy.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a world-wide market research and
consulting firm, best known for The Harris Poll and its use of the Internet to
conduct scientifically accurate market research. For more information, see
www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a
participant in The Harris Poll Online and join future online surveys, see
www.harrispollonline.com.
|
|