The misperceptions that Cheney was reinforcing are pillars of Bush's support, according to a study conducted by the University of Maryland. Fifty-seven percent of those polled "believe that before the war Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda," and 45 percent "believe that evidence that Iraq was supporting al Qaeda has been found." Moreover, 65 percent believe that "experts" have confirmed that Iraq had WMD. "Among those who perceived experts as saying that Iraq had WMD, 72% said they would vote for Bush and 23% said they would vote for Kerry ... Among those who perceived experts as saying that Iraq had supported al Qaeda, 62% said they would vote for Bush and 36% said they would vote for Kerry." The reason given by respondents for their views was that they had heard these claims from the Bush administration.

I've heard this for months and months, so I have to wonder: Why doesn't John Kerry, MoveOn.org, or another advocacy group run an ad something like this:

After controlling Iraq for over a year, there is still no evidence that Iraq provided any support to Al Qaeda at any time.

Allied troops have found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction, and the experts who searched have now said those weapons did not exist.

If this is news to you, don't you wonder why President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, and other members of the administration said them so many times?

Call the White House at 202-456-1414, and ask why the administration is afraid to tell the truth about Iraq.

If people believe fiction about Iraq is true, and the news media won't push the facts, why shouldn't the opposition party do it? Seriously - is there a reason? The Democrats backed away from Iraq criticism in 2002 when they should not have, and it was a disaster for the party and for the country. Shouldn't they be attacking this head-on?