[lit-ideas] Re: The Iran Charade
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:04:27 -0800
Eric wrote:
But rather than get sidetracked by historical revisionism of Vietnam,
think of WW2 versus Iraq. Although public opinion was solidly against
entry into WW2, opinion changed as we went into it. The Marines
sometimes lost more troops in a day than we have lost in the entire Iraq
conflict, including civilian and mercenary casualties, and yet we kept
on plugging through the Pacific.
I have no polls to cite to counter the assertion that public opinion was
'solidly against' the US's going to war before the attack on Pearl
Harbor. However, my experience as a watcher and listener in a Republican
family in a small town (whose National Guard unit had been federalized
since 1939) runs counter to this. I heard absolutely no suggestions from
my elders that should we mind our own business and leave Hitler to it.
I'd venture that US public opinion after the invasion of Poland but
before Pearl Harbor was in favor of stopping both Hitler and Japanese
expansion.
If we had the WW2 level of public support for the Iraq invasion, no one
would doubt that we were winning, having suffered only a few thousand
casualties. So given the limits of military power, I think national
morale (in a liberal democracy) is key.
True. Before Pearl Harbor, in 1941, Roosevelt had enough votes in
Congress for a declaration of war; he believed though that to see such a
war to its conclusion would require vast public support and resolve.
I've seen nothing close to that support and resolve since 1945.
See http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-215099
I'm not sure what Eric means by 'winning' in Iraq.
Robert Paul
Reed College
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