Why Iraq war support fell so fast

[leftchick]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1121/p01s02-usfp.html



WASHINGTON – The three most significant US wars since 1945 - Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq - share an important trait: As casualties mounted, American public support declined.
In the two Asian wars, that decline proved irreversible. With Iraq, the additional bad news for President Bush is that support for the war in Iraq has eroded more quickly than it did in those two conflicts.

For Mr. Bush, low support for his handling of the war - now at 35 percent, according to the latest Gallup poll - has depleted any reserves of "political capital" he had from his reelection and threatens his entire agenda. Last week's bombshell political developments, both the bipartisan Senate resolution calling for more progress reports on Iraq and the stunning call for withdrawal by a Democratic hawk, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, have not helped.

But the seeds of Bush's woes were planted early on. Just seven months into the Iraq war, Gallup found that the percentage of Americans who viewed the sending of troops as a mistake had jumped substantially - from 25 percent in March 2003 to 40 percent in October 2003.

[AX10]

1. That is a HUGE jump in opposition to occur in such a short time.

[depakid]

5. Reflects poor knowledge of history

Americans grew accustomed to quick interventions with comparatively minor casualties. Go in. kick ass. Set up some international peacekeeping forces and basically come home.

Had they looked at Vietnam and Korea, they might have considered the effort it would take to occupy a country the size of Iraq- especially considering the geopolitics of the Middle East. It was bound to be a quagmire- but most Americans were just not educated enough to see that. Once reality hit- the more rational among them quickly figured that this was a huge mistake.

[tominvt]

13. "Reflects poor knowledge of history"

Also reflects the incredibly short attention span of Americans

[MASSAFRA]

2. The military even

characterized the low rate of causalities as "friction". Something not to be concerned about.
Eventually some one is personally touched by each bad decision that Bush makes and support falls.

[Loge23]

3. It's a pointless, unwinnable war

People are finally waking up to the fact that this truly a war about nothing.
No WMD's, no 9/11 connection, no real military reason to overthrow Saddam. Yes, he was a tyrant (but so is *), but there are plenty of tyrant's to go around and we're not invading those countries (maybe).
The idiot pres is still talking about winning. Winning what? Does Iraq become the 51st state? What is winning? Everybody lays down their weapons and the bad guys go home? It's not going to happen.
With Vietnam, the ol' domino theory was still in play, as idiotic as it was. But this time, there's no reason, there's no winning, there's no future. Even the masses know this by now.

[Extend a Hand]

10. There was a reason

It was laid out in the PNAC paper titled "Rebuilding America's Defenses."

They are trying to secure access to cheap oil (for however long it lasts). They want permanent bases through out the middle east. I saw a map not to long ago that how showed American bases were located right along the oil pipelines. I don't think we'll ever get out of the middle east. They want our army camped out on top of those oil reserves.

I'm afraid we are witnessing the beginning of world-wide resource wars.

[Wetzelbill]

4. Amazing too is that it's not a visibly bloody war...

much of it has been cleansed. No body bags or caskets filmed coming home. No footage of our casualties over in Iraq. Very sanitized and by design too. If the viewing public were to see the bloodiness of it all this war would have lost support a long time ago. With the initial bogging down in the summer of 2003 support would have plummeted. That it has fallen so fast without that element is a testament to how badly Bush has botched everything and how little he is trusted.

[Disturbed]

6. The Neocon Regime has won on a few fronts.

"The terrorists want to control the oil. Our way of life will be at risk". George W. Bush



Bush Regime Iraq Successes

1. Saddam will no longer sell Iraqi oil via the Euro.

2, A military foothold in the ME. Other than Saudi Arabia.

3, No countries will be able to buy Iraqi oil that the U.S. disapproves of.

4. The Multi-Intl. Oil Corps are reaping great profits.

5. The Military Industrial Complex is a booming Industry.



“We live a lie when we fail to hold leaders accountable for their lies. By not calling now for impeachment, we are saying that we condone hypocrisy, pseudo-democracy, and murdering thousands of Americans and Iraqis for strategic control of energy resources that we have no right to. Patriotism demands that we insist on the ideals of democracy, not that we support the "leaders" who cynically destroy them.”
Robert Shetterly

[54anickel]

9. Good point. Their attempts to hide the cruel results of war on the

troops and Iraqis did not have the saving power they had hoped for. Support has fallen very quickly in spite of the sanitized view.

I wonder if the support was never really for the war but rather for the little man who waged it. Once the hurricanes blew the rose colored glasses off their faces they began to see him for the shill he is and started paying closer attention to what's been going on. :shrug:

[randr]

7. * and company never intended to win a war!

They DID want to start "The War on Terror" and Iraq was there for the picking. IMHO they believed they could sustain a "war on terror" as a replacement for their dearly loved "cold war" and the American people would buy it hook, line, and sinker.
I do believe the war in Iraq was lost the moment we entered it. There is no winning a lost cause!

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Americans don't like being lied to

whatever the source or nature of the lie.

And from day 1 Bushco got it wrong, from WMD to the duration of our stay to how they much they love us over there to you name it - we were lied to.

And Americans hate that, especially from their leaders.

[cliss]

12. Agreed. Bush knows he cannot wage war

without people. He needs people. He desperately needs cannon fodder, young green recruits who will do Bush & Cheney's bidding.

When people realize they've been lied to, they will withdraw their support. Bush has badly underestimated the will of "people in general".

And even in Iraq, if the general population does not support the occupation, you're sunk. They will find all kinds of ways to sabotage you. Two US troops are lost. They're trying to find a street. They ask a local person. The person points in the wrong direction. The US troops are relieved; thank the local Iraqi and take off in the wrong direction.

Same thing with the Iraqi troops which are supposedly going to "take over". Oh, they'll do their master's bidding.....for now. But once the American Occupier has gone.....

[Peace Patriot]

11. What is all this "Americans are finally waking up" bit? 58% of the..

American people opposed the Iraq war BEFORE THE INVASION. I'll never forget that stat. It is burned into my mind. Across the board in all polls. Feb. '03. 58%!

That number dipped only once, in the few weeks of the invasion with U.S. troops at max risk, then went right back up to nearly 60% where it stayed throughout the election.

The American people never supported this war. Never!

And if the issue polls are any guide, the American people are not stupid, are not uninformed and are not 'sheeple,' as many here at DU often sneer. They have opposed every major Bush policy, foreign and domestic, over the past two years, way up in the 60% to 70% range. You name it. The Iraq war. Torture policy. The deficit. Social Security. Women's rights. These polls are not very publicized or discussed. But that's what they show: an amazing and huge progressive MAJORITY!

What the American people are is disempowered, and, above all, DISENFRANCHISED.

Two far rightwing Bushite corporations--Diebold and ES&S--now control all vote tabulation with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code in the new eletronic voting systems. If Americans are naive and uninformed, it's about this: their faith that their votes are being properly counted, and that no one would dare tamper with that system on the scale perpetrated in 2004.

Wake up, people!

We need...

1. Paper ballots hand-counted at the precinct level (--Canada does it in one day, although speed should not even be a consideration, just accuracy and verifiability)

or, at the least...

2. Paper ballot (not "paper trail") backup of all electronic voting, a 10% automatic recount, very strict security, and NO SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code! (...jeez!).

--------

See this URGENT ACTION thread re: Diebold in California!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5410364

Throw Diebold and ES&S election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!