Why don't Americans understand the Iraq war?

Question

Bush is doing everything possible to end this thing but it seems the pollsters are not proposing fair questions, rather the questions are biased against the war, resulting in low approval ratings. I want the troops home also but I also want Iraqi women and children to experience freedom and democracy. Why aren't we criticizing Nancy Pelosi for exempting American Samoa from the increased minimum wage when her husband owns $17 million of the Tuna plant there? Suppose your neighborhood was run by gangs. Would you not accept help from the police? Would you want the police to avoid your neighborhood and let the gangs rule? How long would you tolerate living in fear? My point: Let the troops complete their mission and come home with honor. Don't make the same mistake we made in Viet Nam.

Answer 1

People don't understand the war because Bush decided early in his Presidency to ignore and marginalize the media. The media has responded by brainwashing the population into hating Bush.

The media has set the public's agenda for the war and has decided what they will tell. The media is telling the public how to think and react to every aspect of the President public agenda, it just doesn't stop with the war.

And the media is going to create a selffulling prophesy because by turning the Iraq War into a political football they are in effect turning it into another Vietnam... a war fought by politicians and not soldiers, where the bigest battlefield is in the media or the floor of Congress..

Answer 2

It is simple!!! The population does not understand politics. They only know what the News tells them and we all know they only want to sell news and garner ratings and expound on their own interests.

The best way for them to make $$$$$ is to sensationalize things...negative things seem to fly better than the positive ones. The American people like to complain and argue points, so when they are given a highy embellished story..they have the fodder for discussion.

When was the last time anyone saw a story on the new school that was built, or the new water treatment facility, or the hospitals that were built and doctors trained?????? ( see link)

If everyone was to look at the LINK I listed, I am certain understanding would improve. Support for all the good stuff our military has accomplished would blossom. Please read on.............Pass it on. It is such good stuff, but the Media will never run with it...They have their own agendas....make money and support their candidates.not the real focus and success of the War Effort

Answer 3

It all comes down to American Citizens getting there education about the war from biased media organizations looking to boost there ratings. When was the last time anyone saw an insurgent death toll on the news? I'm saddened by the fact that America stands for allowing the media to put a spin on every little nugget of information they receive. It's funny to me that someone can honestly think that they know about the War in Iraq, and Presidential policy from watching and hour of CNN every night.

Answer 4

YOU ASSUME WAY TOO MUCH. Even FOX NEWS polls are way against the president so their is no media bias in this issue. As for Iraqi women and children getting democracy shows how ignorant you are of arab culture which sees woman as property not equals this is especially true in shiite culture which is thge largest group in Iraq. As for Pelosi that is irrelevant to this question. The police in Iraq tend to be one of the gangs you fear so you go to a gang and pay for protection. Their is no American logic there there're only tribes and religions and your position in those determine how and in what way you live in Iraq and most of the middle east. As to the mission that tends to change every other week. You can rack up body bag counts all you want but you won't make one little dent on this civil war. Best thing we can do is let them get it out of their system. In any case we can't afford to stay there anymore our credit card is coming due.

Answer 5

The problem with the war right now is that Americans are used to seeing everything summed up over the course of a one-hour television show with full resolution.
Democrats would have declared defeat after the Normandy Invasion and Gettysburg. The fact is, whether you agree with going into Iraq or not, we are there.
People keep talking about bringing home the troops because the war is over. Yet, they forget we still have troops in Germany and Japan from WWII.

Answer 6

Please define and explain "complete their mission".

I will give you a choice:

1/ Defeat Al-Qeada
2/ Kill Bin-Laden
3/ Prepare for an Iranian invasion
4/ Bring peace to Iraq
5/ Find the solution to Shiites and Sunnis living together
6/ Make the world safer to live in

Please choose as many as you want.

Apart from 3/ NONE of the above is realistic. It is time people realised this. It is a GUERRILLA and SECTARIAN war now. A conventional army never wins this sort of war unless you are Genghis Khan or a Caesar. Even Hitler couldn't defeat local guerrilla wars.

I have lived through a sectarian conflict with a big powerful, conventional army trying to keep peace. (I won't say where for personal reasons). But nobody wins this sort of war. There are only losers. I bet all the people here saying they think the Armed forces in Iraq should fight "to the end" have no idea what they are talking about.

1000 people are dieing every month in Iraq. Are all their lives wasted? Are they all "terrorists" ?

Answer 7

Those of us old enough to KNOW BETTER
DO understand the "Iraq War"---it's also known as "Viet Nam".


Sheesh!
And as far as the gangs in my hood go, that's why I protect my homestead--I wouldnt want anyone from any foreign country coming into my town and TAKING OVER and telling ME how to shoot my gangbangers, I can do that on my own, thank you!

That's like your neighbor telling YOU how to cut your grass, kiss your wife, cook your steaks.

Go back and re-think your reasoning, or try it on the blokes in the bar.

Answer 8

I think that most Americans do understand the war in Iraq, we just do not agree with it. It's a shame because we want to support our troops, but many of us feel that they were put in harms way under false pretenses. We can not just cut and run now, we have disrupted the Iraqi people and their government and now they are in chaos/ civil war. We need to do everything that we need to do to keep our people safe. I feel bitter disappointment in our government for getting us into this mess. I can not believe that our CIA was that incompetent, and provided us with so much faulty information that we went to war with a country that posed no threat to us. Yes, Sadam was a bad man that killed is own people....but, he was able to keep his people in line. Now they are going crazy, running around and blowing each other up. I almost think that they needed a thug in control to keep peace in the streets. I do not see a clear way that we can get out of there while saving face.

Answer 9

But Iraqis didn't bring down the Twin Towers, the culprits were Saudi Arabians; but Iraqis had (as we found out) no weapons of mass destruction; but Iraqis did not harbor terrorists (the war bought Al Quaida to Iraq). This is why Americans find it hard to understand the war in Iraq!

Answer 10

You gotta be kidding me? Freedom and Democracy? What freedoms are they enjoying? Due Process. Innocent till proven guilty? Bust down the doors, search their homes, pull out the men and take them away, freedom don't get any better. How about hanging a man that poisoned his people with WMD that we supplied during the Iran-Iraq war. Can you say Agent Orange!
Who got hung for that? I AM a Vietnam Combat Vet, please dont imply that because we were treated like crap, by people thinking your way upon our return, that I had no honor. Try being American and demand healthcare that works, education that competes and safety in our lives. Our form of Law Enforcement, remember the "finders keepers" way we do things or searching our cars and drug tests. I hope the people of Iraq are prepared for a greedy, powerful form of freedoms. LOL