Why polls on the war lack meaning for me

I’m a voracious reader of polls; I almost don’t care what the topic is. With that in mind, I’ve noticed several recent surveys from the last week or so regarding the war in Iraq. Not surprisingly, a strong majority of Americans are supporting the military, the war, and the president during the conflict.

An ABC/Washington Post poll, completed over the weekend, showed that 77% of respondents support the United States “having gone to war with Iraq.” This is the highest number of supporters since the pollsters began asking the question last fall.

Another poll, completed by USA Today/CNN/Gallup, reflected similar results. Support for the war stood at 70%, while 79% said they’re certain the U.S. will “win” the war.

These are the results that nearly everyone would expect. When the troops are in harm’s way and a war is being waged, it would be unprecedented for the public not to rally in support of the effort.

The conclusions Americans have drawn about the purpose and the motivation for the war, however, are troubling.

Debate over the efficacy and utility of war in Iraq dominated the media for about a year. The public had ample time to consider the various arguments for and against an invasion and draw their own conclusions.

That’s why the results of a recent LA Times poll were so disconcerting to me. As Ron Bronstein reported on Saturday, “Nearly eight in 10 Americans now accept the Bush administration’s contention — disputed by some experts — that Hussein has ‘close ties’ to Al Qaeda.” The story added that almost three of four Democrats even accept this to be true.

This is an idea that has been rejected by nearly the entire intelligence community. The Bush administration has suggested a Hussein/Al Queda connection, or has Colin Powell has called it, a “nexus,” but they’ve offered no proof to substantiate these claims. I would have hoped the number of people who would be skeptical of these claims would be higher than this.

It gets worse. The same LA Times poll found that 60% of Americans “say they believe Hussein bears at least some responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”

Now there’s really no reason for this. No one, not even the White House, has accused Iraq of participating in the 9/11 attacks. If Hussein did have something to do with the terrorism of 9/11, support for the war would be nearly 100%, we would have easily been able to recruit support from the U.N., and an invasion of Iraq would have begun a long time ago.

I’ll keep reading these polls, but you’ll forgive me if I take public opinion on foreign affairs with a grain of salt.