Several readers have asked whether Zogby had released the full text of the survey questions and full results. MP asked for and received the full text earlier today and was planning to post it this evening, but then discovered that both have already been posted online earlier today by RadioBlogger.
Radio bloggger also has both a transcript and streaming audio of John Zogby’s contentious interview earlier today with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt. In the interview, Hewitt pressed Zogby for more information about the firm that hired the field workers who conducted the survey in Iraq, leading to this exchange:
JZ: Information International…is Beirut-based, and it has offices throughout the Middle East.
HH: So did they use an Iraqi national or someone
else to oversee the poll?JZ: Hugh, do you suppose that an Iraqi national
would be allowed to poll U.S. servicemen?HH: I’m asking you. So the answer is no?
JZ: The answer is no.
HH: So why is there a security concern in telling
me who the Lebanese gentleman is who oversaw the work in Iraq?JZ: Because that’s something that I won’t discuss,
because it comes under the provision that it’s not something that
you need to know.HH: It would go to the credibility of the poll,
wouldn’t it, John?JZ: Oh, it would not. No, no, no, I have given
to reporters that I trust, I have given all of the details off
the record. A radio talk show is not off the record, Hugh.
For those who have been following this story, it is worth reading (and listening to) in full. See also Hewitt’s own blog post on the interview.
[Typo corrected]
Zogby speaks out, but not by much
Mystery pollster has tracked down some additional information for us and provided the links to both the transcript and radioblogger’s streaming audio link of the Zogby interview.
The script is actually not quite as bad as I thought it would be.
His talk with Hewitt was not confidence inspiring, however.
Zogby: Troops think Iraq war to retaliate for 9/11
At Spinsanity, we wrote on the website and in our book about the ways that President Bush tried to link Iraq with 9/11 and imply Saddam was in league with Al Qaeda. These tactics worked — more than 75% of
Hmmm I just found a much more favorable view of the war, from our troops:
How ’bout these results:
58% see their mission as clear.
4.3% believed that WMD was a major reason they went to war.
77.8% say that a major reason we went there was to remove Saddam from power.
Only 21% believe that “Establishing a Democracy” is not a reason to be there.
76.3% say that a major reason was to “stop Saddam from protecting Al-Qaeda.”
75.5% say that a major reason was to “retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9/11 attacks.”
Over 40% believe that “protecting oil” was NOT a reason; while another 38.3% see it only as a “minor reason.”
88% do not see “providing a long-term base” as a major reason for being there.
51.6% believe that those calling for a rapid withdrawal are either unpatriotic or ill-informed.
Only 13.2% say that the on-going violence has given them a negative view of the people of Iraq.
Where’d I get these results? The same Zogby Poll.
Packaging matters.
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As regards the “how long” question, we know that the order in which questions are asked matters – a lot. No one wants to give the appearance of inconsistency.
So we see question #14:
[Was this a (main, major, minor, not a) reason to go to war in Iraq]:
14. To provide a long-term base for U.S. troops in the Middle East
Followed by question #15:
15. How long should U.S. troops stay in Iraq?
This may be proper procedure in a push-poll, but not in one designed to actually measure the opinions of those being questioned.
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