I've noticed a couple of blogs (Green Fairy and Beatnik Salad - that sounds like something from a cannibal's recipe book, doesn't it? But I digress...) mention this morning's Guardian/ICM poll about the war and note, with sadness, that support for the war appears to have surged. As Ryan says: 'Who are these fickle turncoats!? If it was wrong before the bombing started, how is it right now that the killing has begun?'
(I'm sure there are also those on the pro-war side pointing to them with a smug 'see, I told you so' attitude, but I really can't be botherered to track them down.)
Anyway, rather than leave effectively the same message in the comments on two blogs, I'll do it here instead. I don't think the poll is necessarily as bad news as it first appears. The important thing to note is that the question asked is 'Do you approve or disapprove of the military attack on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein?' Looking at the full results of the poll (it's a PDF file, so you'll need Acrobat to view it), it's also effectively the only question that is asked. However, even that reveals something - as was shown on Yes, Prime Minister (and also in the real world) many years ago, the phrasing of a question affects the results you get.
So, that means what is asked is important. The question does not ask if people believe military action is 'justified', despite the line in the story that '61% (of men) now believe that military action is justified' it asks if they 'approve or disapprove'. Also, the question asks it in relation to 'the military attack on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein' without actually using the word 'war'. However, it does mention 'remove Saddam Hussein', and as we all know from the last few weeks of propaganda, Saddam Hussein is a bad man and one of the 'evildoers' (note to those people who like to wilfully misunderstand what I'm saying - I am not defending Saddam Hussein or his regime at all). Plus, this poll was taken over the weekend when the news and papers were full of stories of troops rolling across the desert and 'support our boys' messages. And even then, they could only get 54% to say 'yes'.
What, I wonder, might have been the response to the question 'Do you believe the invasion of Iraq is justified?' to pluck another question out of the air. This question was just about the best they could ask to boost the pro-war results without straying into the territory of 'push polling' - another question would likely have got a very different result.
(I'm sure there are also those on the pro-war side pointing to them with a smug 'see, I told you so' attitude, but I really can't be botherered to track them down.)
Anyway, rather than leave effectively the same message in the comments on two blogs, I'll do it here instead. I don't think the poll is necessarily as bad news as it first appears. The important thing to note is that the question asked is 'Do you approve or disapprove of the military attack on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein?' Looking at the full results of the poll (it's a PDF file, so you'll need Acrobat to view it), it's also effectively the only question that is asked. However, even that reveals something - as was shown on Yes, Prime Minister (and also in the real world) many years ago, the phrasing of a question affects the results you get.
So, that means what is asked is important. The question does not ask if people believe military action is 'justified', despite the line in the story that '61% (of men) now believe that military action is justified' it asks if they 'approve or disapprove'. Also, the question asks it in relation to 'the military attack on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein' without actually using the word 'war'. However, it does mention 'remove Saddam Hussein', and as we all know from the last few weeks of propaganda, Saddam Hussein is a bad man and one of the 'evildoers' (note to those people who like to wilfully misunderstand what I'm saying - I am not defending Saddam Hussein or his regime at all). Plus, this poll was taken over the weekend when the news and papers were full of stories of troops rolling across the desert and 'support our boys' messages. And even then, they could only get 54% to say 'yes'.
What, I wonder, might have been the response to the question 'Do you believe the invasion of Iraq is justified?' to pluck another question out of the air. This question was just about the best they could ask to boost the pro-war results without straying into the territory of 'push polling' - another question would likely have got a very different result.
Nick got away with this at 4:01 PM
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