Would any war be popular?

Question

If we were attacked by let's say China and was in the middle of a war with 500 casualties weekly and if we lost the states of California, Oregan, Washington, and Arizona would become Chinese provinces would it be a popular war?

My feelings are that no war is popular. Noone wanted to fight WWI, WWII or Korea but they had to be fought to protect the interests of America in the world. The "UNPOPULAR" war we are fighting in Iraq is the same thing. Nobody wants a war but sometimes it has to be done.

Answer 1

If we were attacked by China, of course there would be widespread support for a war against China. There was widespread support for the invasion of Afghanistan, since the Taliban supported, aided and sheltered those who attacked us. I can't speak for other liberals, of course, but I still think that was the right course of action.

The reason there is such limited support for the Iraq war today is that now more and more people are realizing that we were lied to from the outset, that there was no reason for the invasion, and that the continued conflict does not serve America's interests in any way. In fact, our continued presence is harming us, and will continue to do so.

As to WWII, let's remember that the "Greatest Generation" spent years trying to keep us out of it, and didn't get charged up and mobilized until we were attacked.

Answer 2

If by popular, you mean that a war enjoys popular support, I have to disagree.

All wars, to some extent, enjoy popular support when they begin. World War II in particular, enjoyed great popular support right up until the end. The obvious reason for this is that US forces were directly attacked. It was portayed as a sneak attack, although we had a pretty good idea it was coming, and that's a fascinating story in itself.

Iraq is a completely different situaltion. While it was widely supported at first, the primary reason that we started the war (Saddam's possesion of WMD) turned out to be false. In fact, there was much more evidence that these weapons didn't exist, than there was that they did. In hindsight it appears the administration cherrypicked the data to support it's position. This conclusion is bolstered by the statements of many former administration officials who have said that GWB was talking about attacking Iraq even before he was elected.

The primary reason for the war has been proven to be false. The regime change that we sought has been achieved, and GWB stood under the sign and said major combat operations had been completed. I've actually seen Rumsfeld declare the war would be over in 3 days, 3 weeks, certainly in 3 months.

Let's examine the facts:
WMD - none
Saddam - gone
Nuclear Program - didn't exist at the time of the war
al Queda - Saddam would never have countenanced them - they would be a threat to his power - one camp did exist in a remote Kurdish area without Saddam's knowledge.
Terrorism exported to the US from Iraq -none, ever.

Now let's look where we are now:
al Queda - al Queda in Iraq is mostly a minomer. The folks in charge negotiated an agreement with OBL to use the name, but they are not controlled by al Queda leadership. They do espouse the same philosophies.
Dozens of small Islamic terrorist groups that didn't exist before
Iran supporting terrorisam in Iraq - didn't exist until after the fall of Saddam
Iraqi army - only capable of attacking their own people
Iraqi police - split along sectarian lines and involved in sectarian vengeance

And what is the Iraq government doing about all of this?

THEY'RE TAKING A TWO MONTH VACATION!!!!!!!

Now can anyone explain to me why this war should be popular?

It's costing us tons of money, but mostly it's costing the lives of American troops. I won't even bring up the lives of the innocents caught in the crossfire except to point out that these civilian deaths go a long way towards fostering terrorism.

Answer 3

My feelings are most people would have no problem with the war against getting the people behind 9/11. For crying out loud even many countries around the world were more then willing to come help us get Bin Ladin in Al Queda!!
Yes wars are unpopular, however some are necessary such as the war on terrorism. Right now even the Iraq war is necessary. It wasn't in the beginning is now.
But more needs to be done. NOT just a troop surge. Bush and congress need to get together to decide how to fix this mess and start thinking outside the box.

Answer 4

Wrong, Revolution is a good war, because people are willing to die for the future generations, to have what was promised them, and not a puppet, hypocritical government like ours in the USA, besides who would really care if we lost California, we would be happy, we would lose 99% of our homo population, and probably about 79% of our AIDS cases, and I am sure that China has a good cure for AIDS, 50 cent bullet, will work every time to stop the spread of AIDS.

Answer 5

Sometimes war is necessary. I agree with you there. However if we go to war the public has the right to expect that it's A, justified and B, going to be managed properly by the civilian leadership. Neither is true with Iraq which is why a growing number of people are upset.

Answer 6

Idealists will be opposed to any war because in a perfect world there is no war. If the USA was invaded tomorrow there would be people stating its our fault that we made them sooo made they just had to invade.

Only when they are personally impacted, like when their friend or family member gets killed will their attitudes change.

Answer 7

Every war ever fought was popular with somebody or it wouldn't have been fought.

War is not about popularity. It is always about control. If control over the way you live your life is threatened, you will support war to defend it. I guess it depends on your definition of popular.

Answer 8

Of course no war is popular and going to war has always created an uprising.

Some people simply can't believe that we have enemies who want us dead and need to take off those rose colored glasses.

Answer 9

War is always popular with some segments of society.

Some men think they are more "manly" if they fight in a war.

Answer 10

The Greatest Generation knew this, they did what needed to be done and finished the job.

Too many of the Boomer Generation were the sorriest sacks of sh*t to ever be born on earth. They decided to betray their country. We have yet to recover from the damage they caused.