Despite the fact that in a recent poll 70 percent of Americans now believe that Saddam Hussein assisted in the September 11 attacks, Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon news conference, "I've not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that."

It is not clear why well over a majority of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein had a part in the September 11 attacks. Power and Interest News Report analyst Matthew Riemer believes "that this widely held misbelief is a direct result of the speeches and statements made by various members of the Bush administration including the president himself, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Colin Powell."