37% of Americans still believe Iraq had WMDs

**~~Shipwreck~~** · 11 Nov 08,, 18:18

Significant Minority Still Believe that Iraq Had Weapons of Mass Destruction When U.S. Invaded

Source: Harris Interactive Inc.
Monday November 10, 5:00 am ET

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--While a majority of U.S. adults believe that Iraq did not have any weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded in March 2003, surprisingly, a significant number of U.S. adults (37%) still believe today that Iraq had such weapons.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll®, a new nationwide survey of 1,010 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone between October 16 and 20, 2008 by Harris Interactive®.

Specifically, the survey finds:

* By 55 to 37 percent, a majority is not confident that Iraq will be successful in developing a stable and reasonably democratic government. This has not changed since July 2006 when a 56 to 37 percent majority also felt this way.
Half (50%) adults agree that invading and occupying Iraq has motivated more Islamic terrorists to attack the United States. This is down significantly from 61% who felt this way in July 2006.

* By 57 to 39 percent, a clear majority does not think that invading Iraq has helped to reduce the threat of another terrorist attack against the United States. This is similar to the 58 to 41 percent majority that felt this way in July 2006.

What the public believes to be true

U.S. adults believe that the following are true about the war in Iraq:

* Seven in ten (70%) believe that the Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam Hussein (slightly down from July 2006 when 72% said this was true).

* Fifty-two percent say it is true that Saddam Hussein had strong links to Al Qaeda (down significantly from 64% in July 2006).

* Just under half (48%) think history will give the U.S. credit for bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq (down from 55% in July 2006).

So What?

Overall, as President Bush prepares to leave office in January attitudes toward the war in Iraq remain negative even though there have been signs of progress in that country. Less than half of the U.S. population believes that the threat of terrorism has been reduced. Furthermore, while many U.S. adults believe that Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam Hussein, many are also not confident that Iraq’s government will eventually become stable.

Methodology

The Harris Poll® was conducted by telephone within the United States between October 16 and 20, 2008 among a nationwide cross section of 1,010 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. Full data tables and methodology for this study are available at www.harrisinteractive.com.

Link

Where are those WMDs ? They gotta be somewhere...

**Dreadnought** · 11 Nov 08,, 18:24

Would the mustard and sarin shells used upon his own people not equate to WMD? It did kill numerous villiagers.

KURDISH witness has told Saddam Hussein's genocide trial of how poison gas was dropped on his Iraqi village, killing infants.
Ali Mustafa Hama, the first witness in the former Iraqi president's second trial, looked straight at the accused as he spoke of events in 1987, a year before a devastating attack on the Balisan valley, north of Sulaimaniya.

Unlike other witnesses he chose not to stand behind a curtain or have his voice distorted to hide his identity.

Yesterday, at least one defence lawyer spoke through a distorting microphone and did not appear on television.

During Saddam's first trial, over the alleged massacre of 148 Shi'ite men in Dujail, three members of his counsel were killed after appearing on TV.

In this trial, prosecutors are claiming that in 1988, Kurdish villages were razed in aerial and artillery bombardments, including more poison gas attacks, and Kurds were forced into camps where they were shot, tortured or raped.

They say more then 180,000 Kurds died in the attack.

Two of the six defendants, former military commanders for Saddam, said the attacks were punishment for allegedly colluding with Iran on a planned invasion.

Mr Hama, who is in his early 50s, said: "I saw eight to 12 jets patrolling the sky.

"There was greenish smoke from the bombs. There was a smell of rotten apple or garlic.

"People were vomiting. We were blinded. We were screaming. There was no one to save us, only God."

He recalled seeing a baby die not long after birth.

"There were two women. One of them was pregnant," Mr Hama said. "When she gave birth, the little infant was trying to see the world. He breathed in all the chemicals and he died."

During cross-examination, defence counsel asked how he could tell the aircraft were Iraqi.

Mr Hama admitted he had helped shelter guerrillas in his village.

At this point, Saddam stood up and challenged the witness himself, asking: "Who told you to say this?"

Yesterday, Saddam refused to plead and called the court a tool of the US occupation. The Shi'ite judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Today, former intelligence chief Sabir al- Douri said the attack on the Kurds was a legitimate response to plotting against the Iraqi leader.

"The Iranians and Kurds were fighting hand in hand against the Iraqi forces," he said.

"Iran wanted to break through."

His co-defendant, Sultan Hashim, the commander of Task Force Anfal and later defence minister, told the court: "No commander would have failed to respond."

Saddam's cousin , Ali Hassan al-Majid, who was nicknamed Chemical Ali because of the attack, is also charged with genocide over the seven-month campaign.

A verdict in the Dujail trial is not expected until October at the earliest. The result of the Balisan valley case will follow that.

If he is found guilty, Saddam Hussein faces the death penalty in both cases.

However, the former Iraqi leader is expected to face several further trials, which could mean that his sentencing is postponed for many years.

That raises the possibility that he will die in prison - the same fate suffered by the Yugoslav dictator, Slobodan Milosevic.

*Would that not be comparable to say 8-12 US Air Force jets dropping said bombs on say Detroit, Michigan causing as many deaths. Would this not be considered WMD's?

**Donnie** · 11 Nov 08,, 18:42

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

Where are those WMDs ? They gotta be somewhere...

syria?

**cirrrocco** · 11 Nov 08,, 18:43

shipwreck, i guess you could say that you can find a big component of the 37 percent right here on wab

**Kansas Bear** · 11 Nov 08,, 18:49

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

Where are those WMDs ? They gotta be somewhere...

Ask George Sada.

**antimony** · 11 Nov 08,, 18:59

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

* Seven in ten (70%) believe that the Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam Hussein (slightly down from July 2006 when 72% said this was true).

While the US public can believe whatever they want about the existence of WMDs, whoever took the polls should have asked the Iraqi people's opinion on this one

**Dreadnought** · 11 Nov 08,, 19:22

Saddam's general: 'WMDs were flown out of Iraq!'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: February 03, 2006
1:00 am Eastern

By Kevin McCullough
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

Editor's note: The following is a partial transcript of Kevin McCullough's exclusive interview with Saddam Hussein's former Air-Wise Marshall Georges Sada. His former position rank was No. 2 in Iraqi military operations. In the following partial transcript, he reveals where and how the weapons of mass destruction were hidden from the liberation coalition forces before the Iraqi invasion. To listen to the interview in its entirety, you may download it here in MP3/PodCAST format.

I believe the following words speak for themselves:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kevin McCullough: Gen. Georges Sada, welcome to the WMCA MuscleHead Revolution broadcast.

Georges Sada: Thank you very much, Kevin.

KMC: There is a common conception, that is going around in America today, and I'd like to play you a sound bite from last night's Democratic response to President George W. Bush's State of the Union address.

SOUNDBITE: (Gov. Tim Keane, D-Va.) "We now know that the American people were given inaccurate information about reasons for invading Iraq."

KMC: General, were there weapons of mass destruction ... what had Saddam Hussein done with them, and where did they go?

GS: Well here I can say 2,000 times, that the WMDs were in Iraq, and that they were used against Kurds in the north, and people in the south against Shia people, and these weapons were there up to the summer of the year 2002. When a natural disaster happened in Syria, a dam was collapsed, and Saddam said he wanted to do an air-bridge humanitarian aid to Syrian people, those who were flooded in the area. But that was not true.

The thing he did was, he converted two aircraft, two airplanes, a 747 Jumbo, and a 727 and WMDs, raw materials, many other equipment were put in that two aircraft, by the special Republican Guard, in a very secret way and they were transported to Syria to Damascus and they did 56 flights, to make all – whatever has to do with weapons of mass destruction to be in Syria. AND besides to that, 18-wheel tractor trucks, civilian trucks, were also loaded of what couldn't go in the aircraft, and this was also transported to Syria.

KMC: You're saying 56 flights, 747s and 727s, transported – under the guise of humanitarian aid for victims of the dam break in Syria – Saddam Hussein transported his illegal weapons to Syria via that method, and also some 18-wheel trucks were also used in that effort?

GS: That's TRUE!

KMC: General, simply for telling these things to us today, you run the risk of being retaliated against by Saddam Hussein's friends and allies, why did you choose to speak out particularly at this time.

GS: You see actually, I was not speaking this, I was not even writing the book, but, what happened in year 2004 on 26th of April, when the terrorists wanted to explode many tons of these same chemical weapons that we had in Jordan, Amman, and they were trying to destroy the prime minister's office, and the Jordanian Intelligence and the American Embassy. You see 20,000 people were expected to die of that explosion. As a friendly country, Jordan, the Jordan which I love, this had effected on me very much, and then on Feb. 2, 2005, I was in a conference in Phoenix, Ariz., where I met my two friends, Michael Coleman and Dr. Teddy Lowe of World Compassion. They listened to these stories that I had mentioned in the conference. They came and asked me very warmly to make the book of this because this is very important and these informations. So I was persuaded by their two people to write the book, and since Feb. 2, 2005, till now we have worked on the book.

KMC: Let's talk about who you are ... what was your rank within the Saddam Hussein regime?

GS: I was the air-wise marshall, in the Air Force, (second highest rank in the Iraqi military) and I was one of the people who did not attend the Baath Party. And that's why I was forced to retire in 1986.

KMC: You were never a member of the Baath Party?

GS: No never ... And they asked me in '86, it is not possible to be in this rank and second man in the air force and you are not a Baath Party. I said "sorry I can not attend that party, because you said in your principles that the body of the party is Arab, and the spirit of the party is Islam. And myself am neither Arab nor Muslim. I am an Assyrian Christian; therefore I don't fit in this party. And I'm sorry to tell you. I don't want to bluff you ... I just can not attend."

They said, "OK, if you will not attend the party then you will be retired."

I said, "OK, let me retire."

So I was retired in '86, but when Saddam invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, I was the first man to be recalled again to join the active duty, by the regime, by Saddam and to be the adviser on the air force.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, for every liberal who claimed Bush lied. For every printed article that passed on the claim, and every TV channel that did as well. Will you devote yourself to pursuing the claims of Gen. Sada as aggressively as you passed on the disinformation about Bush's truthfulness?

The nation waits!

*It does pose a very interesting question. How come those that accuse Bush did not folow up on the Generals claims of WMD going to Syria. If memory serves well Colin Powell made mention of trucks to Syria as well in the beginning of the Gulf War. Never heard just what they found or if the even followed up.

**Shek** · 11 Nov 08,, 19:40

Originally Posted by antimony

While the US public can believe whatever they want about the existence of WMDs, whoever took the polls should have asked the Iraqi people's opinion on this one

Someone already did (although this poll is 8 months old and given the security gains and economic improvements since then, the numbers should be more positive.

http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_de...aspx?NewsId=90

one in two (51%) prefer their life today under the present political system than they did under the previous regime of Saddam Hussein (22%)

There's plenty more questions at the link.

**Shek** · 11 Nov 08,, 19:42

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

Where are those WMDs ? They gotta be somewhere...

Technically, Iraq did have WMDs. However, there quantities were limited such that it would be ludicrous to claim that they had stockpiles of WMDs. I don't know if the numbers for the poll would change much if you were to rephrase the question given the response to Hussein's "strong links" to AQ.

**Parihaka** · 11 Nov 08,, 19:44

Originally Posted by Shek

Someone already did (although this poll is 8 months old and given the security gains and economic improvements since then, the numbers should be more positive.

There's plenty more questions at the link.

I knew you'd have a link. For some reason these surveys are hard to find on google.

**McFire** · 11 Nov 08,, 20:06

Weapons of Mass Desruction are weapons designed to kill/maim large numbers of people and/or cause massive destruction. They can be nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological (without nuclear detonation). We know Saddam gassed the Kurds and gassed Iranians in the Iran-Iraq War, therefore, why would we believe that he did not have WMD? We do know that Saddam was actively seeking to make nukes, but that is not an easy, nor cheap, process. Why do you think the Israelis bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1982? Why was Saddam in a three-way deal with North Korea and Libya for nuclear material? To provide electrical power to Iraq?

The average American assumes WMD means only nuclear bombs, it does not.
We still don't know for sure what was in the massive truck convoys going into Syria right before the invasion into Iraq. Saddam's general tells us that the WMD's were flown and trucked out. Are we to believe he's making it all up? Why did Saddam kick out the UN weapons inspectors in 1997? (when we really should have invaded Iraq IMO). Bush used the WMD as a reason to invade Iraq. The media then assumed there would be giant warehouses full WMD. When no huge warehouses full of WMD were revealed, the backlash of "Bush's War" began.
Has anyone ever found out what was really in all those trucks and aircraft that went to Syria, or did it all just disappear?

**Shek** · 11 Nov 08,, 20:09

Originally Posted by McFire

Weapons of Mass Desruction are weapons designed to kill/maim large numbers of people and/or cause massive destruction. They can be nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological (without nuclear detonation). We know Saddam gassed the Kurds and gassed Iranians in the Iran-Iraq War, therefore, why would we believe that he did not have WMD? We do know that Saddam was actively seeking to make nukes, but that is not an easy, nor cheap, process. Why do you think the Israelis bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1982? Why was Saddam in a three-way deal with North Korea and Libya for nuclear material? To provide electrical power to Iraq?

The average American assumes WMD means only nuclear bombs, it does not.
We still don't know for sure what was in the massive truck convoys going into Syria right before the invasion into Iraq. Saddam's general tells us that the WMD's were flown and trucked out. Are we to believe he's making it all up? Why did Saddam kick out the UN weapons inspectors in 1997? (when we really should have invaded Iraq IMO). Bush used the WMD as a reason to invade Iraq. The media then assumed there would be giant warehouses full WMD. When no huge warehouses full of WMD were revealed, the backlash of "Bush's War" began.
Has anyone ever found out what was really in all those trucks and aircraft that went to Syria, or did it all just disappear?

Saddam was bluffing on actual WMD in hand to provide regional deterrence (read deter Iran) while trying to appease the inspection regime (cheat on the periphery and maintain future capacity, but have no smoking guns).

**~~Shipwreck~~** · 11 Nov 08,, 20:10

Originally Posted by McFire

We still don't know for sure what was in the massive truck convoys going into Syria right before the invasion into Iraq.

From the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) Final Report (Link) :

ISG has not found evidence that Saddam Husayn possessed WMD stocks in 2003, but the available evidence from its investigation—including detainee interviews and document exploitation—leaves open the possibility that some weapons existed in Iraq although not of a militarily significant capability.

**McFire** · 11 Nov 08,, 21:34

So essentially the report says that it cannot confirm or deny the presence of WMD, but that there possibly were WMD, just not in the massive quantities that we were led to believe by Bush/media and Saddam's shenanigans.

**Ironduke** · 11 Nov 08,, 21:38

Thread moved to War in Iraq forum.

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