How to Make a War Disappear
Iraq is fading from the minds of the American public, and politicians, pollsters and pundits are trying to figure out how it happened.
Although 2007 casualties have been the highest in five years of war, a combination of Congressional Democrats’ ineffectual efforts to stop or slow it down along with Republican unwillingness to buck Bush in numbers large enough to override vetoes has created an Iraq fatigue in both the media and public.
Now, Politico reports, “Democrats plan to spend the December recess reviewing their strategy and determining if they missed opportunities to put limitations, even if they were smaller than war activists were demanding, on Bush’s war policies.
“Some Democratic strategists are warning that congressional leaders are ‘muddling through’ with a strategy that carries both political and military risks for the party.”
“News about the Iraq war,” the Pew Research Center reports, “does not dominate the public’s consciousness nearly as much as it did last winter” and cites figures to support that contention.
There is enough blame for this to go around–divided Democrats, absence of Republican spine, Petraeus’ flacking for the Surge, too little MSM courage coupled with too much posturing and puffing on the blogosphere–all adding up to impotence in resisting a pathologically stubborn Administration.
Now facing a new year, with the Presidential contest upstaging all else, where do the vast majority of Americans who want to end the most disastrous war in our history go from here?
Republicans, under the cover of electorate ennui, will try to ride it out behind their White House candidates’ bluster. Democrats will keep promising to get us out but not just yet.
Like it or not, those who hate this war are faced with no better hope than the kind of incremental easing out that seemed unthinkable a year ago.
We can only hope they don’t botch that, too.
Cross-posted from my blog.
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6 Responses to “How to Make a War Disappear”
I think it has to do with a combination of issues.
1) Constant daily coverage for several years with little change in the story. Several soldiers die every few days, imbezzelment of money while infrastructure doesn’t improve, infighting among the locals preventing anything from getting better.
2) The fact that people finally get that we can’t do a damn thing to change the president’s mind on the war, and he intents to keep us there till he’s out of office. I certainly know I’ve been in the “what’s the point?” phase of my anger about the war for some time now.
I think your list of reasons for the US population’s “flagged attention” is generally accurate, although I think it would also be fair to add one more: The noteable if not perfect progress toward a greater level of security/stability.
Granted, political progress is still lacking (entirely). Granted, the enhanced security/lower rate of fatalities may be completely reversed (all for naught) as/after we withdraw. But it’s hard for most Americans, even avowed pacificsts, to continue sustained outrage in the face of fewer reasons to be outraged.
Yes, one fatality of an American soldier or innocent civilian is one too many. And no, I’m certainly not going to be one of those who argue for continuing this conflict indefinitely. But I do think it’s a rather normal and perhaps reasonable reaction to subdue outrage in the face of progress, no matter how fleeting it might be.
Kind of bizarre thinking of the safe-at-home public as having Iraq war fatigue when one considers what kind of fatigue our troops might be experiencing.
So (here at home again) how much is fatigue and how much is ADD? Does it mean I hate America if I say something comparing the attention span of the average citizen with the average Irish Setter?
Nothing against Irish Setters – we used to have one that was a great pheasant dog back in the 60s and she even pulled me out of the road once when I was in diapers… or so the family legend goes, but I digress…
I completely agree!!
Out of sight, out of mind of the fickle public. And the war has been out of sight, as the MSM can only seem to cover the outrage du jour or Hillary’s latest misstep.
Right after Petraeus reported on the surge, war coverage dropped off the face of the earth. I honestly think we’d be moving on to Iran, if the military gave Bush/Cheney the go ahead.
“Kind of bizarre thinking of the safe-at-home public as having Iraq war fatigue when one considers what kind of fatigue our troops might be experiencing.”
I think thats an entirely unfair statement. Obviously when we talk of “war fatigue” stateside we are not talking of the same thing our troops are going through. Media Fatigue is probably a better phrase for those who choose not to make the intuitive leap.
I don’t think I’m that different from many folks in thinking that there simply isn’t anything we can do with this President and a Congress to scared to yank funding to halt the war. Its almost the same news every day about whats going on over there, and same news about Washington not changing the game plan any. Whats to be done? How much of my life should I spend beating my head against that brick wall of presidential incompetence? The country is against the war, the voters spokoe pretty clearly a year ago at the polls, yet what does Dubya do? Sends more.
People over here not foolish enough to volunteer for an unnecessary and futile war effort have lives to lead, futures to plan, and things to do. I die a bit inside thinking of all the troops coming home with missing limbs and diminished futures because they believed in an idiot presidents childish dreams of fixing the world by the sword. But it was their decision and we the people are at the mercy of an exec who either doesn’t know what he’s doing or has another agenda going. All I know is I’m not risking my life and limb to play a part in it, and all the letters I write to senators and congressmen have done nothing. So maybe you can tell me what I should be doing, what I should be setting my labors aside for instead of getting on with my life and hoping ’09 comes as fast as it can.