Following a month of serious security setbacks and the release
of photographs depicting severe prisoner abuse, 55 percent of
Americans disapprove of President George W. Bush’s handling
of Iraq. Took long enough.
The May 6 Gallup Poll is one of the first polls exhibiting
significant disapproval rates, and shows the lowest marks Bush has
ever received on the Iraq situation.
If the poll were conducted today, the president’s approval
rating might be even lower. In the last 10 days, Nick Berg was
decapitated, the president of the Iraqi council was assassinated,
and U.S. troops continued dying.
Considering how bad things are in Iraq, it is amazing how long
it has taken for American opinion to turn against Bush’s
reckless and foolhardy war. How has Bush managed to fool Americans
for so long?
Part of the answer may lie in the astonishing misconceptions
Americans have had during the course of the war. Three months after
the initial invasion of Iraq, 33 percent of Americans believed U.S.
forces had actually found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Even
more alarming, 22 percent of Americans actually believed Iraq had
used those weapons during the war.
Just in case anyone is wondering, no one has found a single WMD
stockpile. (For the record: Last week, a single sarin gas shell was
detonated in Iraq. Before the war, Bush claimed we would find
entire warehouses full of such weapons.)
The survey ““ conducted by the Program on International
Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland ““ also showed
that only half of those polled knew that no Iraqis were involved in
the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
And even more perplexing, many Americans have said they
don’t mind if Iraqi WMDs don’t exist. In May 2003, 79
percent of Americans reported to Gallup that they thought the war
was justified even if no illegal weapons were found.
They listed restoring order and bringing humanitarian aid to
Iraq as higher priorities. While the good intentions of most
Americans are praiseworthy, this war was never about humanitarian
aid, and Iraq didn’t need to have its order restored before
the U.S. military pummeled it back into the Dark Ages.
But American perceptions about Bush’s war are beginning to
change. Whether it is the fact the U.S. military was forced to
abandon several Iraqi cities, the horrific prison abuse photos, the
endless occupation or the rapidly mounting casualty count, people
are finally upset.
If you are among the 42 percent of Americans who still approve
of Bush’s handling of the war, open your eyes.
There are no WMDs, the Iraqi people are not happy, and American
men and women are dying every day ““ and no one in the White
House or Pentagon has a plan, an exit strategy or even a clue.
Those in power are counting on the fact you don’t have
one, either.