Polls & Research

U.S. and Britain Lied to Justify Iraq War, Say Americans

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many Americans believe the governments of the United States and Britain claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in order to justify military action, according to a poll by Princeton Survey Research Associates for the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 43 per cent of respondents believe both administrations lied to provide a reason for invading Iraq.

Conversely, 41 per cent of respondents think the U.S. and Britain were themselves misinformed by bad intelligence, five per cent think weapons of mass destruction might still be found in Iraq, and 11 per cent do not know.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein's regime was launched in March 2003. At least 2,056 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 15,300 troops have been injured.

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.

Among those respondents who think the U.S. and Britain lied before the invasion of Iraq, 24 per cent say the two governments chose to focus only on the intelligence that supported military action, while 17 per cent believe they knew Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.

Polling Data

Before the war, the U.S. and Britain claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. These weapons have not been found. Why do you think they made this claim?

(Among the 43% who said "lied") - Do you think U.S. and British leaders knew Iraq had no weapons, or did they simply choose to believe only the intelligence that supported going to war?