Cognitive dissonance
According to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 57% of Americans believe the Iraq war was not worthwhile, while 41% thought it was. In another of the poll's findings, 49% said it was a mistake to send troops, and 48% said sending troops was not a mistake.
Huh?
So 8% said the war was worth fighting, but that it was a mistake to send troops. OK, I guess I can understand that. But this I don't get: 9% agreed that the war was not worth fighting and that sending troops was not a mistake. In effect, this 9% is just fine with American troops dying for an unworthy cause.
Get your opinions straight, people!
Huh?
So 8% said the war was worth fighting, but that it was a mistake to send troops. OK, I guess I can understand that. But this I don't get: 9% agreed that the war was not worth fighting and that sending troops was not a mistake. In effect, this 9% is just fine with American troops dying for an unworthy cause.
Get your opinions straight, people!
7 Comments:
This is why you can't lead by the polls as an executive.
By Ben Polidore, At 11:24 PM EDT
is this th old "hindsight is 20/20" in practice?
By bec, At 4:27 PM EDT
I'd call it "midsight". The history books certainly aren't closed on Iraq and won't be for about 20 years, one would think.
By Ben Polidore, At 5:40 PM EDT
I think the "hindsight is 20/20" would be the opinion that the war was justified, but sending troops was a mistake. Which is why I said I was OK with that dissonance in my post.
It doesn't seem that there's a synthesis between "the war was wrong" and "sending troops was right", which was the opinion expressed by 9% of respondents to the poll.
By Tim McGuire, At 11:45 AM EDT
To elaborate, there are only 3 justifiable response combinations to the two questions:
1. War OK/troops OK
2. War OK/troops mistake
3. War mistake/troops mistake
The fourth position, war mistake/troops OK, is utterly inconsistent. The war being worthwhile is a predicate for troops being sent.
By Tim McGuire, At 12:29 PM EDT
Oh, I agree. Common sense isn't so common, though. I was merely responding to bec.
By Ben Polidore, At 12:32 AM EDT
Yes, ditto.
By Tim McGuire, At 10:42 AM EDT
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