"Critics of the war ... blame the
news media, asserting that they failed to challenge the
administration aggressively enough as it made a shaky case
for war. In an interview, Eric Alterman ... argued,
'Support for this war is in part a reflection that the
media has allowed the Bush administration to get away with
misleading the American people.' ... The strongest indictment of the press, many of these
critics argue, are recent polls that suggest many Americans
see Iraq as being responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. The Bush administration's assertion of a connection between
Iraq and Al Qaeda was an important part of its case for
military action against Saddam Hussein, but that link was a
matter of some dispute. Still ... nearly half of Americans said they believed that Saddam
Hussein was personally involved in the Sept. 11 attacks" and
"half
said they believed at least some of the 19 hijackers on
Sept. 11 were Iraqis. None were."