Opposition to the War

Despite the increase in violence in Iraq, especially against coalition forces, the Washington Post reports:

A new joint poll by CBS News and The New York Times shows that public support for the original invasion of Iraq has risen by a fifth - from 35 percent to 42 percent of those surveyed - over the past two months.

Moreover, there's been a similarly startling drop in those who say the war is going badly, from 45 percent to 35 percent. The number of those who say the war effort is going well is up by about a quarter, from 23 percent to 29 percent.

What has brought about this sudden shift in opinion? According to the story, "the troop surge is gaining real traction." It also helps that many Americans are buying into the propaganda line spoon fed to them by the mainstream media:

Another likely factor: The public's renewed appreciation that the insurgency is linked both to Iran and al Qaeda.

Whether or not there is any such link is another story. It's plain to see that the Bush administration has been pushing the idea for quite a while. He just gave a speech in which he used the term al qaida 95 times (click here). I just posted on the fact that the Brit's had fabricated their maps to pretend the Iranians had done something wrong. Here's a post that seriously calls into question the idea that certain mortar rounds found in Iraq were from Iran.

There is no doubt that the media can manipulate public opinion. In light of the intense propaganda effort it's no surprise that public opinion has shifted. But let's not forget that it is the United States, not Iran, who has made illegal threats of violence. It is the United States that has Iran surrounded with the most powerful military machine on the planet. And it is our policies that could quite easily lead to a war with Iran.

Finally, let's not overlook one important thing. The majority of Americans continue to oppose this war. From the post story:

To be sure, the poll shows overwhelming support for a reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq or a complete withdrawal. That's hardly surprising, given the spate of negative reporting from Iraq and the lack of political progress (emphasis mine).

I almost left that last sentence out, but isn't it interesting? The same thing was said during the war in Vietnam: the press were too negative, too adversarial. If the press would only be more upbeat and positive in their reporting. Never mind that nearly a million Iraqis have been killed. Never mind that millions of their most educated citizens have fled the country. Just be positive.

Just remember that even with all the spin, even with all the lies, the American people want this war over. Turn off your television. Stop relying on the mainstream media for your news. They want a war with Iran and they want to stay in Iraq for a very long time. Are you going to let them get away with this?

Technorati Tags: propaganda Iran al qaida Iraq war opposition anti-war

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