Reply #9: You're absolutely right, Mountainman, BUT... [View All]

[DivinBreuvage]

I have my doubts as to how much this idea ever resonated with a significant percentage of the American public. I think the majority of those who still support our presence in Iraq do so because they've bought into the "War on Terror" and think this is making us safer, or because they feel the "Loss of Face" from a US pullout would be disastrous, or because they somehow interpret "Support Our Troops" as meaning that once US troops are in a war you've got to keep them there regardless of how wrong the war is or how badly it's going or how much the soldiers themselves hate the war and don't believe in it and want to come home.

I've heard a lot of people complain about the $87 billion that's going to Iraq. I've heard very few people support it, and most of those always parrot the "talking points" anyway. I think a majority of Americans would much rather see the UN get involved and have other nations start sharing the costs and dangers.

As it is I think plenty of people in this country aren't all that concerned, deep down, with rebuilding Iraq regardless of whether we broke it or not; and as American casualties continue to mount I think more and more people will be of the opinion that we should just get the hell out and let them fix it themselves.

But, you're right, in the meantime this is nothing more than an excuse to funnel billions upon billions of dollars into Halliburton, Bechtel, and so on.

Françoise