Americans scared stupid

From Cursor:

A new Washington Post/ABC poll finds that 56% of respondents would support military action against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, 63% think the Iraq war can be justified without finding WMD and 24% believe Iraq used chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces during the conflict, while 14% weren't sure. Complete poll data.

ABC provides some cover for the 24% who think Iraq used chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces: "That could reflect any number of factors -- erroneous information, bad guesses, an inclination to expect the worst from Iraq, and others. But probably more than anything, it underscores the limitations of opinion polls as a tool to measure knowledge."

But the director of the mid-May poll in which 22% of respondents said Iraq used chemical or biological weapons against U.S. troops, was less forgiving, calling the 22% "a striking finding. Given the intensive news coverage and high levels of public attention, this level of misinformation suggests some Americans may be avoiding having an experience of cognitive dissonance."