Polls & Research

Americans Still Peeved at Iraq WMD Reports

- Many adults in the United States remain disappointed with their federal government's rationale for launching military action in Iraq, according to a poll by Princeton Survey Research Associates released by Newsweek. 61 per cent of respondents believe the Bush administration misinterpreted or misanalyzed the intelligence reports they said indicated Iraq had banned weapons.

In addition, 58 per cent of respondents think the federal government purposely misled the public about evidence that Iraq had banned weapons in order to build support for war.

Pre-war speeches by U.S. president George W. Bush mentioned specific chemical agents, such as mustard gas, sarin and VX nerve gas as banned substances allegedly secured by Iraq. State secretary Colin Powell assured the United Nations (UN) Security Council in February 2003 that Hussein possessed biological weapons.

The final report of the Iraq Survey Group—presented to the U.S. Congress on Sept. 30, 2004—concluded that Hussein's regime did not possess chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, and had not implemented a significant program for their development.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein's regime was launched in March 2003. At least 2,735 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 20,600 troops have been wounded in action.

On Sept. 21, Bush discussed his rationale to invade Iraq, saying, "Don't let people rewrite the history of the way the world was. (Hussein) was a state sponsor of terror. He paid family of suiciders. He had attacked his neighbours. He had used weapons of mass destruction. He was a sworn enemy of the United States of America. And he had been given ample time to disclose, disarm or face serious consequences by over a dozen United Nations Security Council resolutions. Getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do, and the world is peaceful because of it."

Polling Data

Before the Iraq war, the Bush administration said it had intelligence reports indicating that Iraq was hiding banned chemical or biological weapons from UN weapons inspectors. But so far, no such banned weapons have been found in Iraq. Do you think the Bush Administration...