Two in Three Americans Call Iraq a War of Choice, Not Necessity: Majority Now Says That Iraq Had No WMD Program But Still Divided on Whether Iraq Supported al-Qaeda Bush Administration Perceived as Still Saying Iraq Had Major WMD Program and Supported al-Qaeda

Abstract

By a two-to-one margin Americans now say that the Iraq war was a war of choice, not a war of necessity--i.e., it was not necessary for the defense of the US--and that the war was not the best use of US resources, according to a new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll. For the first time, a majority now believes that Iraq did not have a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program, though the public is still divided on whether Iraq supported al-Qaeda. Such beliefs are highly correlated with support for the war. A large bipartisan majority says that if Iraq did not have WMD or did not support al-Qaeda, the US should not have gone to war. Majorities in both parties perceive the Bush administration as continuing to say that Iraq did have WMDs or a major WMD program and provided substantial support to al-Qaeda.