How was it that with the entire world and most of us against an Iraq attack George Bush managed

[Scootaloo]

4. You really want to know?

Bush could have called for an invasion of Malaysia and so long as his administration showed photographs of minarets and people at prayer, the US public would have gulped down whatever other nonsense he had to offer.

it wasn't a slip when he called it a "crusade," though perhaps he didn't intend it. no, Americans are well-simmered in the rhetoric of "clash of civilizations" and as we see ourselves as the pinnacle of achievement in "The West" we seem to consider it a vital duty to continue the work of crusaders past.

That there are numerous propaganda operations lobbying on behalf of a nation that happens to benefit from the utter bestialization of Arabs and Muslims in the US also contributes - a one-sided story where people who practice Islam can only ever be these evil, loathsome creatures who must be opposed, defeated, and destroyed at all costs. Hell, we just had an example of this on DU a few weeks ago, where people were literally cheering the slaughter of Egyptians in the streets of Cairo "because they're Islamist." This, on DU, a supposed bulwark of liberalism.

If it weren't for twelve years of unproductive war causing emotional exhaustion in Americans, I imagine the public would be falling over itself to not just bomb Syria but to invade it.