Last Saturday’s Washington Post provides more evidence that truth does not necessarily spring from what the majority believes. It seems that 69% of whoever they spoke to in this week’s poll said that Saddam Hussein had a role in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This in spite of the fact that there is absolutely no evidence linking the attacks to Hussein and that most of the hijackers were Saudi nationals, not Iraqi. Some, including the Post, have implied that W has fostered this connection in people’s minds, with some of those anti-American opponents of W cooking up a conspiracy around the idea.

I think there’s a simpler reason. Too many people in this country know little or nothing about the Middle East (or Africa or the Asia or South America or …) and lump all the countries, peoples, cultures and religions of that geographic area together. Thus they conclude that, since the attacks of 9-11 came from someone in "that region", everyone must have been involved in the conspiracy. When some talking head suggests that Hussein must have been in on the deal, it makes perfect sense to this 69%. Too bad ignorance isn’t painful.