The latest polls show the change in how the nation views the link between Saddam Hussein and the Sept. 11 attacks. What used to be a solid majority believing that he had a hand in it now has slipped to 40 percent. Alarmingly, nearly 50 percent believe the government misled them on the issue.

The question remains whether President Bush did deliberately mislead the American people to build approval for a war he apparently had already decided to wage as soon as he took office. But a look at the record shows that Mr. Bush is technically correct when he denies that his team ever blamed Saddam for Sept. 11.

Secretary of State Colin Powell told European editors Jan. 26, 2003, that “we are not suggesting that there is a 9-11 link.” And when Vice President Dick Cheney, questioned on “Meet the Press” five days after the Sept. 11 attack, was asked, “Do we have any evidence linking Saddam Hussein or Iraqis to this operation?” his reply was a flat “No.”

When Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair faced the press at the White House on Jan. 31, 2003, shortly before the invasion, a British correspondent asked, “One question for you both. Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?” Mr. Bush said, “I can’t make that claim.” Mr. Blair said, “That answers your question.”

The confusion may have arisen because both the president and vice president continued to talk about Saddam Hussein and the Sept. 11 attacks in the same breath. Mr. Cheney told “Meet the Press” on Sept. 14, 2003, “If we’re successful in Iraq, we will have struck a major blow at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9-11.” And when Mr. Bush claimed the end of major combat in Iraq back on May 1, 2003, he said, “We’ve removed an ally of al-Qaida” and “The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001.”

The dispute goes on, but in a sense it no longer matters. Iraq has become a center of terrorism. Just as Afghan-istan became a nest for terrorism after the Russians invaded it, Iraq has gone the same way. The American occupation has become a magnet for terrorists, and Iraq’s political and military chaos, unguarded stocks of conventional weapons, and unpoliced borders have helped al-Qaida turn it into a new base.

One widely aired concern before the war was that it would spread antipathy toward the United States throughout the Middle East. It may have done that even as it concentrates it in Iraq, demanding new explanations from the White House about how these new and evolving threats should be addressed.