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FRANK DAVIES KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

A new poll shows that 57 percent of Americans continue to believe that Saddam Hussein gave "substantial support'' to alQaida terrorists before the war with Iraq, despite a lack of evidence of that relationship.

In addition, 45 percent of Americans have the impression that "clear evidence" was found that Iraq worked closely with Osama bin Laden's network.,and a majority believe that before the war Iraq either had weapons of mass destruction (38 percent) or a major program for developing them (22 percent).

There's no known evidence to date that these statements are true.

U.S. weapons inspector David Kay testified before Congress in January that no weapons were found and prewar intelligence on Iraq was "almost all wrong." CIA Director George Tenet last month rejected assertions by Vice President Dick Cheney that Iraq had cooperated with al-Qaida.

Despite that record, many Americans continue to believe that the threat from Iraqi weapons and its alleged links to terrorism justified the war. That conviction correlates closely with support for the war and President Bush, the poll released Thursday found. al warning signs for the administration, as respondents have become more pessimistic about the prospects for success in Iraq.

For example, among those who say most experts agree that Iraq had banned weapons, 72 percent plan to vote for Bush.

The poll for the University of Maryland's Program in lnternational Policy Attitudes, conducted by Networks from March 16 to 22, surveyed 1,311 adults and had a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

Claims by the Bush administration about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and links to terrorism helped shape public perceptions, said Steven Kull, the director of the program. No cause-and-effect relationship between the beliefs and support for the president could be proved, however.

In the poll, roughly 4 in IO Americans perceived the administration as saying it had clear evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction just before the war.

The administration has backed off earlier claims that evidence of such weapons was found, but the president continues to say the weapons question is open. "We aJI thought he had weapons," Bush said Wednesday.

"We're so polarized right now that people are seeing what they want to see through a very partisan lens," said Thomas Mann, a political analyst and Brookings Institution scholar.

The number of those who believed the year-old war would result in greater peace and stability in the Middle East has dropped from 56 percent in a Gallup poll in May 2003 to 40 percent last month in the PlPA poll.

And for the first time, a majority of Americans 5 I percent said they thought that a majority of Iraqis wanted U.S. forces to leave. The survey was completed before the worst violence of the occupation erupted in April.

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On Sunday,April 25 a rally was held in Washington D.C. supporting abortion rights. D.C. officials haven "t released the exact number of those who attended, but the organizers of the rally estimate that one million people attended. The majority of those who attended were female and young as well .....,...___ _ _, as a few celebrities in attendance. The organizers said that their reason for holding the rally was to draw attention to the importance of reproductive health issues for women. according to KRT.

Kerry fights back over metals

Sen. John Kerry. the democratic presidential candidate. has recently been under attack concerning the medals he received while in the Navy~ He has been denying the speculations that he threw away his military medals in order to protest the Vietnam War. Kerry's response on the issue is that the GOP is fabricating the issue in order to smear his name for the upcoming presidential electi~n_, _according to

Jordanian police uncover al Qaeda plot

Police in Jordan recently uncovered a planned terrorist attack by al Qaeda. Their authorities said that the planned attack would have been much worse than the attacks that took place on September J l. Al Qaeda planned to release chemicals in Jordan ·s capital city of Amman. Their planned targets included the U.S. Embassy, the prime minister's office and the Jordanian intelligence headquarters, according to CNN.

Clinton memoir to be published

"My Life," the long awaited memoir of former President Clinton will be published in late June 2004. There will be one million copies originally printed and President Clinton will read the memoirs for an audio version. Clinton focuses and talks about his success in his professional career as well as setbacks in his personal life. according to the Washington Post. Michael Jackson has replaced his legal team after conflicts.

Jackson finds new defense team

Jackson is scheduled to be arraigned this week on child molestation charges. Mark Geragos, who was the lead defense lawyer for Jackson is also defending another well known defendant, Scott Peterson. Thomas Mesereau. who recently defended Robert Bake on murder charges, will be taking over as lead defense attorney, according to the New York Times.

FaUen soldiers not to be photographed

The U.S. military is standing finn on their ban to not show pictures of fallen American soldiers being airlifted back to the U.S. in their flag draped coffins. A Freedom of Information Act request was made and allowed over 300 pictures of the coffins to be released. The White House agrees with the military, stating that pictures should not be shown in order to protect the victims families, according to Reuters.