According to a poll published in Saturday’s Washington Post, 69% of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein was involved with 9/11…even though no proof exists.
Interestingly, a Gallup poll conducted in 2001 revealed that 71% of Americans believe that the government knows more than it’s telling about UFOs.
Coincidence? A possible link? Yooooouu decide.
PAD
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Perhaps a large portion of that 69% are fans of the country song “Have You Forgotten?,” which also supports the same, unproven connection.
On the rare occasions that I hear it, the song makes me crazy. Heck, unlike me, my wife enjoys country music, and it makes her almost as crazy.
Er…that many humans are willingly believing in things that are demonstrably not true?
Sure why not…we have people believing in the Flat Earth and other wild theories.
What about that song “Beer For My Horses”? Now… THAT’S CRAZY! What self lovin’ cowboy is gonna give his beer to his horses, even if he is a-havin’ some whiskey….
And, of course the gov’ment knows more aboot them UFO’s then they’re lettin’ on! Didn’t youse guys see that movie with Dwight Yoakam, Area 51, or, you know…
Love your writing, Peter Family Name David. Keep it up! Please.
Jgk
I think that the Gov’t knows more than it’s telling about UFO’s…
I also don’t think that they have anything to do with extraterrestrial life, either.
As for Hussein… glad he’s gone, not happy over how it was done. But now that it’s done, we need to move onward from here… correctly.
And I will leave it to those with more training and experience to decide what “correctly” means.
H.
Okay…so how many people believe that aliens had something to do with 9/11? When will there be a poll on that? Just a demented thought :o)
Have a wonderful tomorrow!
-Amanda
Ummmm, I wasn’t part of either poll, but count me as part of the 71% who believe about the UFOs, and part of the other 31% who don’t believe about Hussein and 9/11.
Speaking of polls, I’ve got one going on at my website right now, about whether or not I’m obsessed with trunk monkeys.
My pet theory why people like to believe in conspiracy theories:
It’s comforting.
The alternative is recognizing the power and influence that stupidity has in the world.
I also don’t think that they have anything to do with extraterrestrial life, either.
Hugh, have you looked at pictures of our government lately? 🙂
I want to know when we’re going to get President Ford Prefect.
So glad I’m not the only one who wants to foam at the mouth when I hear “Have You Forgotten?” I’ve taught myself to think that the singer is talking about Afganastan and begging the US not to do a half assed job.
As for the UFO thing, I lived near several bases in Florida, both Air Force and Navy. Yes, I do believe that the government knows more about UFOs than they say.
mmmmmmmmmm……smell that western self-loathing.
Can’t recall the precise percentage (but it was close to 60%) who, not more than a few years ago, could _not_ correctly answer when asked how long it takes the Earth to make one revolution around the Sun.
Um, Peter?
Are you saying that Saddam Hussein is responsible for UFOS??
Are all those farmers’ stories about anal probes really just Saddam’s men conducting experiments for bioterror research???
Hmm…..
Well, even George wasn’t part of that 69%. This, from a transcript of a joint press conference held with Tony Blair, January 31, 2003:
“Q One question for you both. Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?
“THE PRESIDENT: I can’t make that claim.”
In his own words. ISYN. It’s all here –> http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030131-23.html
<>
Yes, no proof, but plenty of evidence. At least, if you’re sensible. If you need to hate Bush, then by all means, dismiss it.
(Good grief, Peter, even you’ve discovered a way to be boring.)
Couple of recent germane links:
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0909-07.htm
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2003/091003a.html
to Del:
There were a few meetings with a representative of the (pre-war) Iraqi government and al-Qaida held in Afghanistan, which broke off when both sides stated that they could not possibly come to any common ground and there was absolutely no way (at that time) that they could cooperate, much less maintain any communication. Hussein’s secular (albeit abominable) regime was abhorrent to al-Qaida (a criminal, cultish and repulsive organization by any ostensibly civilized definition) as well.
As one who has read extensively on this subject, would be interested in hearing any credible evidence (your word) of anything further or, especially, otherwise.
“There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and people’s stupidity. I’m not sure about the former.”
–Albert Einstein
There are still people who believe in polls? Hey, for a small sum, I can tell them where the Easter Bunny keeps his hoard.
I think the best [somewhat recent] example I can think of of polls being unreliable was one morning a few months ago, just before Bush Jr decided on his little walkabout in Baghdad.
Canada’s answer to CNN and our major daily newspaper both ran headlines citing polls.
One of them stated the majority of Canadians were opposed to war in Iraq. The other stated a majority of Canadians were solidly behind Bush Jr. on the Iraq thing.
Uh …
The runner-up, in my mind, was in ’88 when Canada was trying to revamp its Constitution. The resulting kludge was referred to as the Meech Lake Accord (after the geographical location where the initial agreement was hammered out). It was up for final ratification in ’88 but running into unexpected resistance from some provinces who saw the traps hidden in the fine print and realized this wasn’t such a good ‘deal’ after all.
As the project appeared less and less certain, a poll was done in the province of Qu
The reason Bush and Co. are not making the Saddam-9/11 is not do to a lack of trying to find one. They’ve desperately trying to find a provable link between the two. The best they could come up with is putting the rhetoric out that they “linked by a common hatred.” In other words, let’s plant the see in people’s minds that Osama hates us, Saddam hates us, therefore they are working together to kill us.
Never mind that all evidence collected so far points to the fact that the religious fundamental nut and the secular murderous tyrant hate each other nearly as much as they hate us and that Osama allegedly rejected a suggestion that he form an alliance with Saddam.
That’s why GW II was sold on the basis of WMD, not 9/11. Of course, now I’m told it was all done just to bait trap with our soldiers and lure all the terrorists in the world to come to Iraq and pick us off.
Why that didn’t work in Afghanistan (hey, anyone remember that we still have to rebuild that place?) is beyond me.
As for UFOs, I remember a poll from ten years ago that said more of my generation (Gen X, God that name seems old already) believed in UFOs than believed that they would collect social security.
We’re ten years older and the massive deficits are back. I’d be willing to bet that the numbers that believe in UFOs has gone up.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/
Formerly Known As….:”There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and people’s stupidity. I’m not sure about the former.” –Albert Einstein
Luigi Novi: And since Edwin Hubble proved Albert’s beliefs about a static universe false, that leaves only the latter…
During the Fox News broadcast this morning commemmorating 9/11, they did one of those stirring montages, going from the fall of the twin towers, to the invasion of Afghanistan, to the war with Iraq. All peppered with sound bites about the spread of terrorism. Gosh, I wonder why anyone watching that segment would link Saddam Hussein with 9/11. Could it be because Fox News connected all the dots in that way for them, so they didn’t even have to think about it?
On a tangential note, I noticed a report in today’s Daily News that on Prime Time Live, ABC is running a report about how they were able to send a shipment of depleted uranium (essentially harmless and legal to send) from Jakarta to the Port of Los Angeles without being detected. The Bush Administration was furious and contemplating legal action against the show’s producers because- are you ready for this?- they falsely labeled the shipment. Fill in your own punch line here.
Of course there’s no connection. And you’d be a fool and a terrorist to see one.
What about that song “Beer For My Horses”? Now… THAT’S CRAZY! What self lovin’ cowboy is gonna give his beer to his horses, even if he is a-havin’ some whiskey….
Just for the record, Toby Keith said “Whiskey for My Men and Beer for my Horses” is a toast he heard in Texas and is not taken literally.
The following poll was linked to the MicroSoft website:
Quick Poll
Who would do the best job as the governor of California?
_ Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s famous. That means he’s good, right?
_ Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. California needs a change, but also needs someone with experience.
_ I really don’t care. When can we stop hearing about this?
Share Your Comments
In response to a different post: I think you have to be a real optimist to be a conspiracy theorist. It’s comforting to believe that National Security is so skilled that one lone gunman, acting by himself, could never assassinate the president. Or that the government is organized enough to keep a conspiracy hidden for several generations, with no leaks.
–Daniel
I don’t care for “Have you Forgotten” much myself. However, I mind it a lot less once I learned that (despite the timing on its release) it actually was written abotu Afghanistan and not Iraq.
“Or that the government is organized enough to keep a conspiracy hidden for several generations, with no leaks.”
Mostly no. But, isn’t it interesting to note how many people involved in that story somehow wound up dead within a few years thereafter, and how come is it, anyway, the government has all those sealed records about the whole thing? A suspicious type might wonder why it is, exactly, that they don’t just open the books and say “see? Nothing odd here, is there?” and make the nay-sayers go away. But, no, it all stays mysteriously locked away. Odd for such a supposedly ‘open-and-shut’ case, no?
I believe the government knows more about UFOs than they have let us know.
But I do not believe that UFOs are in any way alien in nature.
They’re experimental aircraft that the government knows about but doesn’t want to talk about.
Duh.
That UFO question was poorly worded and to take an answer of “yes” to mean that most people believe little grey men are anal probing rednecks is a real stretch.
Saddam Hussein was involved in the funding of the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993(no Bush Administration to blame OH NO!), why is it so hard to believe he wasn’t in some way connected to the second attack.
Besides, polls are hardly scientific, no matter how much their takers claim to be.
Case In Point: How many of you have ever been polled, or know anyone who’s been polled?
Sometimes I think they pull those numbers out of their áššëš.
I don’t care for “Have you Forgotten” much myself. However, I mind it a lot less once I learned that (despite the timing on its release) it actually was written abotu Afghanistan and not Iraq.
And despite the line about “not knowing the difference between Iraq and Iran?”
(A mindset, I might add, that the tenuous-at-best connection between Iraq & al Queda/9-11 relies upon: lumping all countries in the region together.)
Saddam Hussein was involved in the funding of the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993(no Bush Administration to blame OH NO!), why is it so hard to believe he wasn’t in some way connected to the second attack.
Perhaps because of the established animosity between Hussein/Iraq and bin Laden/al Queda?
Nytwyng
“I’m just a singer of simple songs, not a real political man. I watch CNN but I’m not sure I could tell the difference between Iraq and Iran.”
Alan Jackson, “Where were you…”
Jam wrote:
I believe the government knows more about UFOs than they have let us know.
But I do not believe that UFOs are in any way alien in nature.
They’re experimental aircraft that the government knows about but doesn’t want to talk about.
Duh.
About five years ago, a tabloid newspaper printed sketches of a UFO, based on “newly uncovered” eyewitness reports. (I guess they’d just been declassified after several years.) The sketches looked almost exactly like a Stealth bomber.
Besides, polls are hardly scientific, no matter how much their takers claim to be.
Case In Point: How many of you have ever been polled, or know anyone who’s been polled?
Actually, I’ve been polled a number of times, in a number of different states. Twice by Nielsen. Although I never got one of the little boxes to hook up to my TV. Sorry tif that blows your theory.
–Daniel M.
I’m a registered democrat even though I haven’t voted a straight Democratic ticket since I made the dreadful mistake of voting for Clinton the first time he ran. I got called by a Democrat Party pollster once , and who, once finding out that I intended to vote Republican for president, promptly called me a traitor to my race (I’m black) and hung up.
Open-minded liberals… you gotta love ’em. Or they’ll sue you for a hate crime.
Denise,
Thanks for the correction. Those two songs tend to run together in my mind.
So, I guess I can fall victim to that sorta thing, too. 🙂
I take solace in the fact that, when I do it, at least it’s only about songs from a style I don’t care for.
I think most people believe a the Hussein-9/11 link through the sheer power of repetition. When leading up to the Iraq invasion, Bush continually mentioned 9/11 and Hussein as close together as possible, with the statement that if we don’t stop Hussein now, we could face another 9/11. (See? They’re in the same sentence! They must be linked!) It’s the same thing the administration did with Weapons of Mass Destruction: They mentioned them as often as possible, and hearing it repeated so much made people think they existed. Of course, we don’t hear much about them anymore…
Ironically, there was more proof that Bin Laden hated Hussein than that they were working together. I suspect, though, that the U.S. may have driven them together by making ourselves out to be a common enemy to them.
As Rich Hall says, they do these polls at shopping malls.
So that’s 69% of people too dumb to cut a wide berth when they see someone heading towards them with a clipboard, believe Sadamm was involved in September 11th!
85% of statistics are made up.
At the risk of starting the mother of all flamewars…
Er…that many humans are willingly believing in things that are demonstrably not true?
And how many people believe in god?
UFO’s r not alien in nature? Was that an affirmation, like the ant saying “that foot ain’t goings ta squash me”… Sure, some experimental aircraft r fyling around, but those r the ones that still need gas.
Since the late 1960’s, young Americans have been taught to distrust their government. Vietnam and Richard Nixon helped create several generations of supreme cynics. So anytime the government claims that something is “true” there will always be a kneejerk reaction of disbelief and distrust. I do not think party politics or ideology has anything to do with it.
If the government says UFO’s are not real, then they must be real.
If the government says Hussein helped terrorists, then he probably didn’t.
If the government says the sky is blue, then we know it ain’t.
If the government says UFO’s are not real, then they must be real.
Are there flying objects that have not been identified? Yes, there are. Thus, by definition, they are indeed Unidentified Flying Objects.
References to “UFO’s” do not automatically equate to “spaceships.”
Although the people in the 69% in question aint da brightest in da bunch, they believe this for the simple reason that the U.S. government has spent considerable time, energy and resources telling them this in so many words.
**I’m a registered democrat even though I haven’t voted a straight Democratic ticket since I made the dreadful mistake of voting for Clinton the first time he ran. I got called by a Democrat Party pollster once , and who, once finding out that I intended to vote Republican for president, promptly called me a traitor to my race (I’m black) and hung up.
Open-minded liberals… you gotta love ’em. Or they’ll sue you for a hate crime.
Posted by EClark1849 @ 09/11/2003 02:25 PM ET**
“Open minded” is a misnomer as they are tolerant of only those that agree with them, demanding others be “open” and accept their view only. The real shame is such an overwhelming majority of blacks vote democrat when it`s that bunch that works to keep them down.
Good for you voting your conscience.
Dan
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