What "ordinary Americans" want to happen in Iraq...
As Petraeus prepares to give us his rose spectacled report on how well things are going in Iraq, the Washington Post have issued a poll which shows just how removed the Beltway class are from ordinary Americans and what they, as opposed to the political elite's, think should happen in Iraq.
The Republicans can be expected to rally around their failed President, but what is simply shocking here is the degree to which the Democrats are failing to demand that the war be brought to an end; no doubt buying into the Republican inspired myth that the American public would punish them if they "veer too far to the left".
This is an age old Republican tactic and I am stunned that some spineless Democrats still dance to this worn out tune. If the Republicans are right when they state that the public will punish anyone who veers away from their policy, then one would expect that opinion to be clear in the polls. However, the very opposite is true when one looks at the numbers.
65% of Americans disapprove of the way that Bush is handling the Iraq war with a mere 35% agreeing with him. 62% of Americans feel the Iraq war was not worth fighting, with a mere 36% who think it was worth it.
And as Petraeus prepares to tell us that all is rosy in the garden, 60% of Americans feel that the US is not making significant progress in Iraq with a mere 36% disagreeing.
58% of Americans feel that the sending of an additional 28,000 troops to Iraq will make no difference at all to the outcome of the conflict.
62% of Americans feel that the US should start decreasing it's troop levels "Right Away", with 55% wanting the US to withdraw it's troops by Spring of next year.
Nor do Americans appear to buy into Bush's claims that they "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here". 65% of Americans say that there is no increase in the risk of a terrorist attack in the US whether the US remains or withdraws from Iraq, a figure which undermines one of Bush's key arguments for remaining involved in Iraq.
53% of Americans do not trust Petraeus to give an honest assessment of how things stand in Iraq and 66% believe that Bush will stick to his policy no matter what Petraeus says.
48% of Americans think that the US is losing the war in Iraq with 34% disagreeing.
Nor do Americans buy into Bush's claim that winning the war in Iraq is central to winning the war on terror. 54% of Americans think that the US can win the war on terror without winning the Iraq war with 37% agreeing with Bush that success in Iraq is vital to win the war on terror.
The main point of this poll is how the views of ordinary Americans will be swept aside by both the Republicans and the Democrats. Petraeus will give his report which no-one will actually believe, although the political classes will find it a useful football to kick about for a few days, and both the Republicans and - shamefully - the Democrats will start pretending that, by leaving the troops in Iraq, they are somehow doing what ordinary Americans want.
After all, it is precisely to avoid the anger of "ordinary Americans" that the Democrats are failing to demand that this war be brought to an end.
The only problem is that the Democrats are buying into this beltway mentality which states that William Kristol and the nutters over at The Weekly Standard somehow have their finger on the pulse of what "ordinary Americans" feel should happen next.
The Washington Post poll shows that this is far from the truth. And it is no wonder that support for the Democratic Congress is so low when the Democratic caucus is dancing to a Republican script that has no bearing with reality.
Click title for Washington Post poll.
2 comments:
I've watched as the Democrats have betrayed the trust of those that swept them into power again and again, and can only come to one conclussion: The Democrats are almost as deep in the control of Oil and Weapons as the Republicans are. The want to keep the status quo, rather than change anything (except who controls the status). It's starting to feel like a professional wrestling match; this week is Captain Democrats' turn to win, but next week The Republican Avenger will win the title back!
whoopee, what a show.
Dave,
The Democrats simply stun me with their spinelessness. Even when every opinion poll says that the US is sick of the war, they buy the Republican myth that they will be punished if they oppose Bush's plans.
Didn't we hear those same empty threats before the mid terms? Surely they realise what they were elected to do? And it wasn't to prop up Bush's war...
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