Public Opinion Strategies has some polling data that suggests that over 50% of Americans want to finish what we started in Iraq and object to all this "redeployment" doublespeak for what amounts to retreat. Word on these data can be found here.
Since we've also got the stats that show a majority of Americans do not read this blog, we won't claim credit. And we won't even get too excited, as the problem in Iraq has as much to do with Americans' short attention spans as it does with Iraqis' intractable tribalism. It seems that a majority of Americans think this today. But after the weekend, who knows?
But we are hopeful that the poll-watchers who belong to the party of George McGovern and Frank Church might take a breather from their around-the-clock efforts to undermine any sliver of American military success that is emerging from the Middle East.
2 comments:
Those (politicians) who speak about finishing in Iraq and "winning the war" wish to forgo any discussion of the merits (or lack thereof) for going to war, in reference to WMDs--thus they focus the discussion on such things.
On the other side, those who wish to speak about the lack of merits for war focus the discussion on such things, and avoid other discussions--like how we can leave Iraq NOW in a manner which will not endanger many more innocent lives.
WMD were one casus belli among many, emphasized at the time because of the importance to the UN of the search for WMD. But the fact remains that Saddam, by refusing to cooperate with the UN, deliberately cultivated the impression that he had WMD and was developing WMD, and we know that he had them at one time because he used them.
So, if a man who has committed armed robbery before walks in a bank with his hand in his coat pocket with what appears to be a gun pointing from inside the pocket, is he committing armed robbery, and would a peace officer be justified in arresting him for said crime? (Hint: the answer is yes.)
The question of how to "leave Iraq NOW" without endangering lives is like the question of how to prepare an illiterate 18-year-old to enter college NOW. Someday we can leave Iraq, when the situation warrants it.
That's a much different issue from divining that the whole thing in Iraq is lost and so we should cut our losses ASAP. How someone comes to the conclusion that the war is lost is beyond me, except that some people don't know history, economics or the art of war.
Sometimes it's just useful to skip the political rhetoric and get to the issue.
By the way, for those who wonder why this gentle reader calls himself Jim Shoes, I'll explain. I generally write in two ways: to emphasize the possibility of victory where others see defeat, and to suggest an opinion that runs counter to the usual opinion. For the former, I adopt the shoe brand Nike, Greek for "victory," as my identifier. For the latter, I adopt
Converse. Now you know the code.
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