The Emperor's clothes

Christian Century, Nov 1, 2003

THE EMPEROR'S CLOTHES: According to a study done by the Program on International Policy Attitudes, based at the University of Maryland, a majority of Americans have held three mistaken impressions about the U.S.-led war on Iraq: that the U.S. found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; that Saddam Hussein worked closely with the September 11 terrorists; and that people in other countries either supported this war or were evenly divided over it.

Support for the war among Americans who held to one misconception was 53 percent; among people with two misconceptions it was 78 percent and with three it was 86 percent. So far, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq; there is no evidence that Saddam worked closely with the 9/11 terrorists; and Gallup polls found that large majorities of people in most countries opposed this war (Knight Ridder Newspapers, October 2).