Pentagon Conducts Bogus Poll to Distort Iraq Opinion
Pentagon Conducts Bogus Poll to Distort Iraq Opinion
Yesterday at the Department of Defense press briefing, Secretary Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers touted new poll results of Iraqis that claim to demonstrate that the insurgency is losing political steam. What they didn’t reveal about the poll is that it surveyed only those Iraqis who already despise the insurgent activity and have actively worked against it.
Here’s what Rumsfeld said yesterday when asked whether he truly understands the nature of the insurgency:
Q: “If I can take you back to your opening statement when you — actually, General Myers made similar references to the failings of the insurgency, including their failure to garner public support. And yet, this far into the operation, the insurgency has managed to sustain itself. Does this suggest a lack of understanding on your part on what the insurgency is about, who they are, the durability of their effort?”
SEC. RUMSFELD: “The people who are involved in analyzing that think not.”
Myers followed up with the evidence to back Rumsfeld’s statement:
GEN. MYERS: “The polling data would certainly — and we have some recent polling data that certainly indicates just the opposite, and I think we can release that at some point. Yeah, we can release the polling data.”
Some of the polling data was released in an article written by Jim Garamone of the Armed Forces Press Service (the AFPS is a propaganda arm of the DoD, sending out news articles daily that carry only the administration’s point of view). Here’s what Garamone wrote of the polling data:
“The poll – done as part of the Tips Hotline number campaign – was conducted in Baghdad, Basrah, Salah Ad-Din, Najaf, Diyala and Irbil. More than 1,200 Iraqis answered the questions.”
What is the “Tips Hotline number campaign?” The Tips campaign was originally established by U.S. forces in Baghdad to give ordinary Iraqis the opportunity to call in leads regarding suspected insurgent activity (see this article by the AFPS on the hotline). Pollsters were able to gain access to the database for this most recent poll. The problem with the poll should be clear at this point: Iraqis who were already predisposed against the insurgency are being asked about their feelings toward the insurgency, and the results are being used to portray the entirety of Iraqi opinion. It is not surprising to learn that 95+ percent of those surveyed said attacks are not justified — that is why they’re calling them in.
I called the Pentagon to ask them about this misleading survey. A Pentagon official said he did not know of the methodology of the poll, but he suggested that the poll may simply be an effort to “measure the effectiveness of the tips campaign.” If that’s true, the message isn’t getting across to others, who are using the figures not to demonstrate the effectiveness of the hotline, but instead to suggest they know the full range of Iraqi opinion. The American Forces Press Service touted the poll results as demonstrating that “Iraqis do not support terrorists.” And General Myers said in the briefing, “I think the polling numbers are all very good with Iraqi citizens, they understand who the bad guys, who the good guys are I think in this case.”
What is most disturbing about this biased poll is that even those Iraqis who are calling in insurgents are not unequivocally opposed to attacks on U.S. forces. Garamone writes:
“Half of those polled said there was no excuse for attacks against coalition personnel, while 40 percent said there is a justification and 10 percent saying they don’t know.”
Only half of those Iraqis who are dead-set against the insurgency — to the point of reporting them to coalition authorities — think there is no excuse for attacking coalition personnel. Almost half think it is justified. The poll results hardly confirm that Rumsfeld and company understand this insurgency; in fact, it is a misleading effort which demonstrates the opposite.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
This shouldn’t be on ThinkProgress. This should be in the New York Times. This is why you can’t rely on the MSM anymore.
August 10th, 2005 at 12:02 pmI would hope that Iraqi’s would not support terrorist. However they don’t support US troops either. As long as the average Iraqi sees us as an invasion force there will be insurgents. we either need to change public opinion of US troops in Iraq, or leave.
August 10th, 2005 at 12:02 pmHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA, this is funny, desperation by the tyrants is always funny, haahahahahahahahaha.
August 10th, 2005 at 12:02 pmSo, I am going to take a poll now:
How many people on Think Progress believe the Bush Administration is corrupt?
No need to answer. We all know what the outcome will be. How can people actually feel right about creating a worthless biased poll like that.
It just goes to show what kind of stooges work for, vote for and back these asholes.
August 10th, 2005 at 12:05 pmLooks like Zogby is also working for the DoD. I wonder what the results are for stem cell, gay marriage, & intel design?
August 10th, 2005 at 12:06 pmI love it.
August 10th, 2005 at 12:11 pmFrom earlier posts I can hear NED “The Polls mean nothing, it’s who wins that counts”. Well, except for this Poll, this poll is bang on, right NED?
August 10th, 2005 at 12:13 pmExactly – where’s NeD with the ‘polls don’t mean anything’ garbage he likes to spew?
August 10th, 2005 at 12:22 pmThe Bushies falsified an entire election; what’s an opinion poll or two? Maybe Tips will conduct the exit polls in ‘06.
August 10th, 2005 at 12:34 pmAlittle off subject, but why has it taken so long to hear the truth out of the political arena.
Rush (paraphrase): Hackett is insincere about his military service and a profiteering lawyer.
Hackett: Rush “is a fat ass drug addict” who is losing support with military listeners.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:05 pmShould we really be surprised by these master of spin? If you can juggle and alter two elections, what’s so difficult in coming up with a bogus poll?
August 10th, 2005 at 1:10 pmAlso, the poll is call in – meaning that Iraqis without phones are out of luck. P.S. How is that phone service doing over there?
August 10th, 2005 at 1:17 pm“What luck for rulers, that men do not think.”
Adolph Hitler
If the shrub’s flying monkeys don’t care about polls, why do they spend so much time “fixing” them and spinning the facts?
I believe it is just a way for them to buy time. Keep the people a little confused so they can wreck the entire world and leave it for someone else to fix.
The only people the shrubs are fooling are their fellow repugnicans. People with half a brain can see right through their b.s..
It will take years to identify and remove the slime from the cracks of D.C. after the shrubs are dug up and removed.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:36 pmThis presidents administration are master manipulators. They know full well that too much of the American public are sheep and easily take what they read at face value. That’s a key strategy for a successful advertising/political/propaganda campaign. I’ve got to say I admire their tactics – they can spew this data, and technically, they aren’t lying, so these are facts they can stand behind while they keep themselves out of jail. Sure, it’s misleading and offensive to those of us who question the facts behind the data, but its tough to compete against it if you refuse to sink to their level, which is probably a reason Kerry didn’t generate enough support for a win.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:40 pmThis poll is as accurate as the polls you love to tout trashing Bush.
The only poll that matters is election day. That produced a GOP majority and I am happy with that. You can cry “stolen election” all you want, it just makes you look more irrelevant and hopeless.
You people are worse than the Nazis.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:50 pmyour right Ned the only polls that matter are on election day. I will enjoy watching you cry in 2006 and 2008.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:53 pmbite me ne dementia. You are a complete idiot.
I think I’m going to conduct a poll of only the people allowed to post at redstate.org and see if bush is doing a fabulous job.
yea, that’s the ticket.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:54 pmNeD needs attention today. Him’s feeling alone.
August 10th, 2005 at 2:52 pmExcellent, the DoD has learned to follow the Florida method: If you don’t like how someone might answer (or vote), just don’t ask them. What concerns me though is that our liberal media hadn’t learned, by watching American Idol, that phone-in voting is inherently flawed and really shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
August 10th, 2005 at 2:52 pmCool, if you are passing out brownshirts, Ned, I’ll have one. Achtung!
August 10th, 2005 at 2:59 pmScott,
You forgot to put quotes around “liberal” media. They are anything but liberal.
August 10th, 2005 at 3:02 pmI believe that all Hitler conparisons are dumb and should never be made, but this seems very “3rd Reichish” to me!
August 10th, 2005 at 3:06 pmCouple this with the Sept. 11th “celebration” being planned right now, and it is enough to made you run and hide under the bed.
The only pole I truely believe in is the one in Jeff Gannon’s lap.
August 10th, 2005 at 3:28 pmMid-Week Revelry
The War. Veterans. 9/11. The list goes on and on for the 5:30 Report with Doug Krile.
August 10th, 2005 at 3:35 pmNeD needs attention today. Him’s feeling alone.
Comment by progressive and proud  August 10, 2005 @ 2:52 pm
Is he a house husband or did the wife finally leave him?
August 10th, 2005 at 3:37 pmL,P and L: I don’t think a good repub household would let the woman dictate anything. She had better be two steps behind and not working.
August 10th, 2005 at 3:45 pmWell, the insurgency can’t be losing TOO much steam. Because SCIRI, a pro-Iranian Shia militia, just deposed the elected mayor of Baghdad.
I think Former Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism Pat Lang said it best: “Ambassador Khalilzad has been telling the new Iraqi power structure what to do about their new constitution. It seems to me that SCIRI is telling him what he can do with that.” “If the US accepts that an issue like this can be settled by force a pro-Iranian Shia militia, then I would say that the political “game” is over in Iraq. The militias, the Jaafari government and the Iranians will all draw the appropriate conclusion.” “The implication of this will also not be lost on the nationalist component of the Sunni Arab revolt.”
August 10th, 2005 at 4:14 pmJuan Cole points out that SCIRI and the Badr Brigade were elected on January 30th in Baghdad province, which gives them the right to name the mayor. So the Shia coup occurred in January, not August.
I need to do more homework.
August 10th, 2005 at 4:31 pmDeposing the mayor of a country’s capitol is a classic “last throes” move on the part of the insurgency. Terrorist attacks are down to only 60 per day, so clearly they are losing steam. I fully expect them to drop their weapons and run at the first sight of a constitution. Clearly the insurgents are getting desperate, or they wouldn’t be moving to control so much of the country.
And once we have trained enough Iraqi troops to keep the mayor of Baghdad in power, our remaining troops can come home. And the restored mayor will thank our dead sons for their sacrifice.
August 10th, 2005 at 4:32 pmThe MSM is pathetic, cowed, victimized. They wouldn’t know a fact if it bit them in the ass, as many facts are doing these days.
August 10th, 2005 at 4:55 pmIn other news, the mayor of Washington, D.C. was deposed by an armed militia. We can rest assured this is perfectly normal for a free and democratic country.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:56 pmNot a helluva lot of honesty coming out of Rummy’s Pentagon these days.
August 10th, 2005 at 11:38 pmFor only one example: there are (officially)approximately 1830 dead soldiers in Iraq, but they do not count the ones that die on route to the hospital in Germany, or the one who die in the days after they arrive there, nor the ones who die in vehicle accidents or suicide in Iraq. The official report of wounded is around 14,000, but the internal notes indicate the number is closer to 40,000 suffering from wounds, PTSD, and other disorders.
looks like northeastern dimentia is back off his meds.
ho hum. Maybey we can send him “to the tropics”.
I was searching for some news, so I visited FAUX news…. seems the only thing you can see on that is NON STOP COVERAGE OF A MISSING WHITE CHICK, unless you wanna hear about the WH. talking points…. so, my quest for REAL news continues.
August 11th, 2005 at 3:24 amThe AmeriKKKans are not in this country….. They can not defeat us….they are …. where the hell is bagdad bob?
OH, That’s right… he has posessed the trained monkey and flying monkeys…..
ONCE A COMPANY MAN, ALWAYS A COMPANY MAN…CIA
August 11th, 2005 at 3:28 amTry Democracy Now and the BBC.
August 11th, 2005 at 3:28 amhttp://www.democracynow.org/
Any foreign news service is preferable to our useless media.
I get my news at blogs like this.
August 11th, 2005 at 3:30 amMY MOTTO: Anything but faux news
FAUX NEWS…..WE DECIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
August 11th, 2005 at 3:48 amFAUX NEWS…. never ending coverage of :
michael jackson
scott peterson
runaway bride…..(00ps… we tried to fry the boyfriend)
natalie holloway….(not so much on the honeymooner boy that died and is lost)
and NEVER, NEVER, ANYTHING BAD ABOUT TREASON OR GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION!!!!!!
faux news…..WE DECIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 11th, 2005 at 3:51 amVERBATIM QUOTES FROM WHEN CLINTON WAS COMMITTING TROOPS TO BOSNIA:
“You can support the troops but not the president.”
—Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)
“Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years.”
—Joe Scarborough (R-FL)
“Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?”
—Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99
“[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.”
—Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
“American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy.”
—Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)
“If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy.”
—Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush
“I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.”
—Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)
“I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today”
—Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)
“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
August 11th, 2005 at 9:54 am—Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)
FAUX NEWS, We report you decide… you can decide whatever you want it doesn’t matter as long as you’re sitting in front of your TV stuffing sugar-salted crap in your face, the only decisions that matter to us are those made by our friends in power. So enjoy the latest celebrety scandal fluff! We can argue all night if it keeps you sedentary and happy!
August 11th, 2005 at 10:20 amI dunno, Liberal Progressive and Proud, that seems to me like a lot of pre 9/11 thinking, and this is a post 9/11 world. Now that we 9/11 in a post 9/11 world, we can 9/11 Iraq as much as we 9/11 want, because 9/11… and may I just further add 9/11.
But seriously, post those quotations everywhere. I would suggest that you leave off the preface that those illustrious politicians were speaking of Clinton’s intervention in the former Yugoslavia (which I did not support either. The Air Campaign killed more civillians than anything else). Just post one of those gems in Freeper land (if you’re not already banned). Something to the effect of, “Did you hear what Tom Delay said?” Then post the quote, and ask what they think. And then reveal he was talking about Clinton.
Eh, who am I kidding, as it stands Bush could stand on the White House steps while being fellated by Jeff Gannon, bragging that he lied and simply wanted to bomb Iraq for the oil, and half his supporters whould cheer, and the other half would deny it even happened.
August 11th, 2005 at 10:39 amWhat on earth did they expect? When your country is occupied, the first thing you do is kill all the collaborators.
I looked at the 2004 Coalition Provisional Authority stats and it was clear that as unpopular as the US may have been in Iraq, we actually had half a chance of pulling the coals out of the Iraq fires until Nov. 2003. After the Abu Gahraib scandal surfaced it was over, Baby. Nothing we do will unring that bell.
August 11th, 2005 at 11:22 amIt’s what they don’t say and how they couch what they do say…[SOME]“Iraqis do not support terrorists [WHICH DIFFER FROM INSURGENTS].â€? And General Myers said in the briefing, “I think the polling numbers are all very good with Iraqi citizens [HUH?], they understand who the bad guys, who the good guys are I think in this case [YEAH, AND WHO ARE THEY?].â€?
August 11th, 2005 at 11:25 amLiberal, progressive & lethal,
I heard the same quotes on The Stephanie Miller Show, where can I get those quotes, could you provide a link? Thanks!
August 11th, 2005 at 11:43 amThe Pentagon is doing this because the 9-11 Commission has evidence that the Pentagon knew the 9-11 planner was living in the U.S. one year prior to the 9-11 attack.
The 9-11 Commission is investigating why the Pentagon chose NOT to share their facts with other intelligence agencies.
This is another nail in the coffin and the Pentagon knows it. This is the evidence that proves that Bushie and Rummy knew about the 9-11 plot and did nothing about it.
This report came from CBS News, google and you should find it.
votetoimpeach.org
August 11th, 2005 at 1:33 pmThose who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. Seems like the Pentagon learned from the 1948 Chicago Trib poll declaring that Dewey would beat Truman by a landslide. Trouble is they only contacted folks with a telephone at a time when having a phone was mostly restricted to the wealthy. The big difference is that the newpaper at the time was really interested in the truth but inadvertently used a method to subvert it. No such desire to determine or broadcast the truth is found among the warmongers….
August 11th, 2005 at 5:13 pmThis just in!
Figures don’t lie.
Liars figure.
Go figure.
August 11th, 2005 at 9:51 pm#47, this quote is obviously for you…
“What luck for rulers, that men don’t think.”
August 12th, 2005 at 2:02 amAdolph Hitler
-”[Saddam Hussein] will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has 10 times since 1983.” – National Security Adviser Sandy Berger to President Clinton, 1998
-”If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program.” – President Bill Clinton, 1998
-”[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs.” – Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Tom Daschle, D-S.D., John Kerry, D-Mass., and others in a letter to President Bill Clinton, 1998
-”Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology … ” – Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., (now House minority leader), 1998
-”Hussein has … chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.” – Secretary of State Madeline Albright to President Clinton, 1999
-”Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He … is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them.” – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., 2002
-”We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction.” – Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., 2002
August 12th, 2005 at 4:04 pmFor those interested in the quotes in # 39 above, I suggest googling each individual quote. They are legit, you will find many hits and find the source that way.
August 12th, 2005 at 6:57 pm#49, YOU POOR FOOL
Didn’t you pay ATTENTION WHEN FAUX NEWS SAID THAT THE PRESIDENT (HA HA) said they suffered from
…. what was it now….
Oh yes, …. FAULTY INTELLIGENCE
Were they talking about info gathered by the FBI and CIA or
SHRUB – YA-?
Go figure.
IF YOU TELL A BIG OLE’ LIE, THE PEOPLE MIGHT REPEAT IT.
IF THEY REPEAT IT, THE PEOPLE (SHEEPLE) may take it as fact.
Most of the ill-informed persons in this country (faux news viewers) STILL believe 9/11 and Sadam were related.
THAT IS THE WAY THE nazi party WANTS IT.
August 15th, 2005 at 4:11 amand further…
BILL CLINTON (THE LAST LEGALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMIERICA) told shrub that bin laden was a REAL THREAT. He was POO POOED!
Given the finger (as shrubya does when backed into a corner).
AND FURTHER, BIN LADEN WAS RECRUITED BY AND PAID FOR BY CIA BY SHRUBYA’S DADDY. ONCE A COMPANY MAN, ALWAYS A COMPANY MAN…… LIKE THE MAFIA… YOU CAN’T JUST QUIT.
That is why the dumb little shrub read “my pet goat” (upside down by the way) while the twin towers fell.
HE KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN, HE PROBABLY KNEW HOW IT WAS PLANNED, AND HE KNEW…
THAT HIS DADDY’S COMPANY (AND BIN LADEN FAMILY’S COMPANY) THE CARLYLE GROUP WOULD PROFIT!!!!!
Not to mention (the man behind the curtian) cheeney’s former company KBR-Helliburton would profit from NO CONTRACT BIDS!!!!!!!!~!!!!!
kbr
August 15th, 2005 at 4:17 amcalifornia toto
Take your time to check out the sites dedicated to lass sie rollen
October 17th, 2005 at 4:57 amporn passwords
In your free time, check out some relevant pages in the field of asian girls virgin teens
November 6th, 2005 at 11:49 pmGreate site. Thank you :)
November 12th, 2005 at 5:00 pmwedding ring
wedding rings
January 1st, 2006 at 1:00 pmBy all hi! Good day! =)
January 17th, 2006 at 6:56 amHi! How at you with weather? At us absolutely of gloom = (
January 17th, 2006 at 1:11 pm