Bush Adminstration Propaganda Efforts No Longer As Effective

George Bush won reelection largely due to a massive propaganda campaign to justify his policies, including deception regarding the events leading up to 9/11. While many Americans remain continue to believe the misinformation spread by the right wing noise machine, the number is gradually decreasing, as shown in this Harris Poll as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

According to the poll, 48% believe Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, was a serious threat to U.S. security. This is down from 61% last February. The number who believe Saddam Hussein had strong links with Al Qaeda is still amazingly high at 41%, but at least this is down from 64% in February. The number who believe that Saddam Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001 is down from 47% to 22%. The number who believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded decreased from 36% to 26%. Those who believe that Several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11 were Iraqis has fallen from 44% to 24%.

Along with a more realistic view of the pre-war situation, the number who believe the Bush administration on the effects of the war has also changed. The number who believe that The Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam Hussein has fallen from 76% to 56%.

The large numbers of people who were so terribly misinformed about the connection between Saddam and 9/11, or believed WMD was present even after the United States conceded they were not present, is an alarming fact in a democracy. Voters cannot intelligently elect public officials when under the influence of such propaganda. Fortunatley, even despite the massive propaganda efforts of the Bush adminstration to deceive the public, the truth is gradually getting out to an increasing number of people.