Democrats might want not want to look. They have been betting their electoral fortunes on the dislike of the Iraq War. What they did not expect was that the surge might work. In a gallop poll released today there was a 9% increase in those who thought the surge was making things better. One can only imagine if the surge were to actually work. After hearing pundits for a couple weeks all but calling the election in 2008 for the democrats, the results might not be so sure. As the situtation continues to develop it should spice up the Presidential Election a little bit.
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Comments: 36
In other words, publish the percentage that the increase started with. This is like the article that was posted the other day that said Bush is eight times as popular as Congress -- but when you look at the actual figure, Bush's approval rating is 24%, Congress is 3%. Not something to brag about.
Those who said the additional troops are "making the situation better" rose to 31% from 22% a month ago. Those who said it was "not making much difference" dropped to 41% from 51%.
That's like saying I support my favorite football team, but really, they need to throw in the towel.... but I do support them!
Now I will skip to the future. Let us vow that we will never put ourselves in this position again.
We can win any war, we are the strongest nation and have the best weapons. War involves destroying the enemy, taking control and continuing to control.
Our military is designed to kill and destroy.
But our nation is directed toward compassion and sharing.
The two do not mix.
With one weapon we could destroy the power of the region and take over but there would be collateral damage and we do not have the stomach for that.
Let us promise then that we will never send our army out to do a job we do not have the guts to finish. It is not fair to them. They are not trained for nor do they have equipment for policing and leading populations thought processes of change.
Our atitude means we must stay with becoming a defensive nation and hope our enemies do not develop weapons that will destroy us.
But they will.
And then we will wish we had the guts to stop them when we had the chance.
We used the power in Japan and all is well.
We backed down in Korea and Vietnam and some say vietnam is as compliant as Japan. Korea is still a problem. Maybe Vietnam too.
I am warning my children to stop having babies for the future we leave them is hell.
What do you want to leave your grandchildren?
We need to pull out of the UN and quit trying to "spread democracy" It is NOT our mission.
Our involvement in the UN has gotten this nation into several conflicts. WHY? Bosnia, Kosovo, Kewait, and others were NONE OF OUR BUSINESS. In Iraq, if they want to kill each other that is THEIR BUSINESS not ours.
Your statement "Our atitude means we must stay with becoming a defensive nation and hope our enemies do not develop weapons that will destroy us.
But they will.
And then we will wish we had the guts to stop them when we had the chance."
That don't wash!
As long as we maintain the best trained and equipped military we would win any war any nation in the world could start and they all know it. Who is going to start a war they know going in that they can't win?
Getting out of the UN is of vital interest to this country.
James B.,
James, It was a dung heap when we went in and it will be a dung heap when we leave no matter when we leave. The fact is those folks LIKE killing each other they have been doing it longer than the US has even existed.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/gallup/2007/08/a-hint-of-more-.html
Appreciate your comments. I agree with much of what you say. We should get out of the UN. It established controls over Saddam but did not support them. We enforced the no fly zones to protect some of the citizens from Saddams attacks.
Our planes were attacked almost daily and soldiers were offered bonuses for shooting down our planes. It looks like saddam wanted the equipment to identify his planes as US planes that he could use to sneak attack us. He had opportunity to attack us from Cuba with chemical weapons being developed there. (Google it).
You say we can beat any nation in the world. Sure we can, but we don't have the guts to win. We want to quit before we hurt someone so we fold and the world laughs at us.
My point is that if you don't want to win don't get involved.
I agree with your first paragraph about our mission. If you believe that is why we are hanging in Iraq then let's get out. But we show our weakness and fear of hurting anyone.
I agree we should not be there but we are there and our weakness will invite their attacks. Our kids will pay.
We have already given the oil to Iraq and are trying to get the government to divide the profits up with the residents so we were not after the oil. And I hear Roger Moore and the LBJ estate has more Haliburton stock than Cheney.
We need to develop our own sources of energy and we need to support mass transportation.
As soon as Iran has a bomb they will attack us.And Russia, Venezuela and Palestine will help them. It is hard to tell what China will do.
Tell the kids not to have children.
You also have to look at the demographics of who is being polled. Age, income level, church and political affiliations also make a huge difference.
The Rasmussen polls, which produce good numbers but are always intepreted with a pro-Republican bias by the pollster, show a less dramatic change than the Gallup data that Publius cites.
Belief that the surge is working rose to 25% from 19%.
Interestingly, in the same period of polling, preference for a generic Democratic ticket rose against a generic Republican ticket. It is now a 49% to 39% preference for a non-specific Demoicrat against a non-specific Republican.
It seems premature to say that Iraq is a losing issue for the Democrats.
Regardless of the "progress" of the surge, the duplicity, fraud, incompetence, and wildly-mistaken assumptions of the Bush cabal have had a lasting effect on the electorate.
Diana- You don't have to be pro war in order to be pro life. I can oppose the war and still support the well being of the troops. What a ridiculous statement you made.
Do I have to support murder and rape in order to empathize with a victim or their families?
Such ignorance, I swear.
I must have skipped over the idiocy by Diana that you quoted.
Many people in this country support the troops AND are furious about the treachery and incompetence of the Republican fools who put them there.
People seem to forget that they are human beings out there in the desert. I am willing to bet a large majority of enlisted soldiers also do not support the war, but they sure the heck want to get out alive.
Peace.
Please, dont forget, what they have accomplished there, lets dwell on the positives. They took out an evil, man and his sons. Saddam and his henchman raped, maimed, murdered, tortured, stole from these helpless Iraqi people. These people are now free of fear from him, they are allowed to vote, go to school, free to worship, etc. Yes, now they have to worry about those terrorists and insurgents who dont want them to have freedom. We have a long way to go , to help them have the same rights as we do. Give it time, lives will be lost, sad but true,that is what war is all about. I wish this mission could of been over and done with in a few months, If it werent for the terrorists, it would of been over by now. I am glad that there are people who are willing to help a country in need. If everyone chose to ignore another countrys plight, where would we be. The next war , may very well be here, and what will we do, if these soldiers, just decide its not worth it to fight for this country?
Despite all the noise to the contrary, many Americans who hate the war in Iraq have never wanted to simply pull out. With every measurement signifying Iraq is well past crisis status and looking more clearly as something that can be measured as a victory, support for the mission will increase. With a likely flexible pullout timetable set by Iraq in the works, the pullout demand will decrease not increase on the part of Americans, especially with fewer and fewer casualties.
Glad to see that Publius was dead wrong, as several of us pointed out to him.