From today's National Review Online:
Why are the polls down? Is public support for the war crumbling? Well, no. But the explanation for plummeting numbers varies depending on which war you are talking about.
If you mean what started out as the "war on terror," support remains high. You may recall that war. It was about the eradication of militant Islam and its state sponsors. To the extent there is public uneasiness, it is not over the fact of that war but rather the manner in which it is being prosecuted, with terrorists continuing to score successes and their facilitators in Iran and Syria making war on American forces with impunity.
But if you're talking about what the "war on terror" has lately evolved into — namely, the war to spread freedom — public support cannot fairly be described as "crumbling." Public support for that war was never there in the first place. Read More.
If the war on terror is separate from the advance of freedom - why are we bothering with democracy in Iraq? Why not just impose an American friendly dictator and leave once he can continue to fight the jihadists by himself?
Posted by: Chris Hughes | August 31, 2005 at 11:50 AM