Americans more clear on Operation Iraqi Freedom than WWII

[Queasy]

Link. Scroll down about a quarter way down the page.

"Do you feel that you have a clear idea of what this war is all about -- that is, what we are fighting for?"

Yes No No Opinion .

3/29-30/03 [War with Iraq] 81 18 1
11/01 [War on Terrorism] 89 10 1
12/90 [Persian Gulf War] 74 24 2
5/67 [Vietnam War] 49 48 3
11/42 [World War II] 73 27 -

(need table formatting!)

 

[Morph]

Yes, the propaganda has worked wonders this time around. Our propaganda people are just getting better and better. It's a science now.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: Morph
Yes, the propaganda has worked wonders this time around. Our propaganda people are just getting better and better. It's a science now.

Morph....Stick it up your a$$, I know I'm not alone in my thoughts, in fact I would dare say the percentage of people here that can't stand you is higher than the percentage of those who had a clear idea on the War on Terrorism

That being said, I'm glad that people feel they understand, it just shows that a normal rational person can comprehend the big picture of things while certain others clearly cannot.

 

[bigdog1218]

What I can't believe is that people actually bought into the Iraqi Freedom bs. Operation Capitalism should be the name of the war.

 

[nagger]

I guess this polls with 1012 adults responding account for the correct opinion of 280 million americans

I guess they polled this in the White House or in the Pentagon...

This Operation Iraq Freedom should have been called Operation Iraq Liberation...

 

[bigdog1218]

Actually you don't need a wide spread poll to get accurate results 1000 people is enough.

Edit: Of course you could skew your results and pick certain demographics to help your cause, but in general they are accurate.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: nagger
I guess this polls with 1012 adults responding account for the correct opinion of 280 million americans

I guess they polled this in the White House or in the Pentagon...

This Operation Iraq Freedom should have been called Operation Iraq Liberation...

Nagger, funny post at the end but where are your facts? Lookie here 78 percent of Americans support (66 percent ?strongly? support) taking action to disarm Iraq and remove Saddam

My favorite poll on the page:. Do you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of anti-war protestors? 63% unfavorable...lol

I'll find more polls with more voters if you like, point is a majority of the 280 million americans support the war, FACT!

 

[Sxotty]

Yep and I know that some of youguys love totalitarian regimes like Iraq where a majority doesn't cut it, but here in our representative democracy, if the majority of people support something it is likely to happen.

 

[Morph]

Originally posted by: Sxotty
Yep and I know that some of youguys love totalitarian regimes like Iraq where a majority doesn't cut it, but here in our representative democracy, if the majority of people support something it is likely to happen.

Except for presidential elections, right?

 

[bigdog1218]

majority of people support something it is likely to happen.

That doesn't make it right.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

The problem with those numbers lies in the fickle nature of the American public. Support for the war shifted dramatically during the days before and immediately after the war began. The rationales for war did not change but public support increased. In Britain, the shift was more profound . . . roughly 70-30 against became 60-40 in favor. I used the term fickle but many of the shifting opinions were likely driven by patriotism, IMHO misguided but patritotic none the less.

 

[NightTrain]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
I used the term fickle but many of the shifting opinions were likely driven by patriotism, IMHO misguided but patritotic none the less.

Of course it's easy to dismiss anyone who disagrees with you as "misguided". Were the polls reversed you would probably view it a bit different. That being said, I tend to agree with you. I was against the war until it started. I don't consider myself overly "patriotic" until I get surrounded by the anti-war zealots who do nothing but criticize the US but can't find their voice when Saddam's troops execute a civilian for waving at our troops. They don't even realize they push the fence sitters into the other camp with their hypocrisy.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: Staley8

Originally posted by: nagger
I guess this polls with 1012 adults responding account for the correct opinion of 280 million americans

I guess they polled this in the White House or in the Pentagon...

This Operation Iraq Freedom should have been called Operation Iraq Liberation...

Nagger, funny post at the end but where are your facts? Lookie here 78 percent of Americans support (66 percent ?strongly? support) taking action to disarm Iraq and remove Saddam

My favorite poll on the page:. Do you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of anti-war protestors? 63% unfavorable...lol

I'll find more polls with more voters if you like, point is a majority of the 280 million americans support the war, FACT!

Hmmm.....silence from the naysayers

 

[yowolabi]

Originally posted by: Staley8

Originally posted by: Staley8

Originally posted by: nagger
I guess this polls with 1012 adults responding account for the correct opinion of 280 million americans

I guess they polled this in the White House or in the Pentagon...

This Operation Iraq Freedom should have been called Operation Iraq Liberation...

Nagger, funny post at the end but where are your facts? Lookie here 78 percent of Americans support (66 percent ?strongly? support) taking action to disarm Iraq and remove Saddam

My favorite poll on the page:. Do you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of anti-war protestors? 63% unfavorable...lol

I'll find more polls with more voters if you like, point is a majority of the 280 million americans support the war, FACT!

Hmmm.....silence from the naysayers

Some people only talk when they have something to say (This isn't a veiled insult aimed at you). Balibabydoc summed up my feelings when it comes to the nature of support for war. Once a war starts, there are a huge number of people who feel it would be unpatriotic to say they are against the war. Like he points out in the case of England, 30% of the people didn't change their minds overnight.

As for the original post and statistics, I found some things interesting. 81% said they know what the war is about. From that same page, on that same day, only 70% said they favor the war with Iraq.

Conclusion: Many people who feel they understand what the war is about, also oppose the war. So, anyone who interprets that 81% as meaning there's support is kidding themselves. At least 11% of the people understand what the war is about and either oppose it despite or because of their understanding. So there could be millions of people that say "I believe I understand what this war is about, I believe it's about oil." Unless we know what they believe the war is about, it's a useless statistic. In addition to all of that, as Morph said, they could believe that our primary motivation is to liberate the Iraq people, in which case they would just be wrong.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Of course it's easy to dismiss anyone who disagrees with you as "misguided". Were the polls reversed you would probably view it a bit different.

I'm not dismissive of people who disagree with me. I'm dismissive of people without a well-thought out rationale for their decisions. War-protesters without a clear understanding of the issues are just as misguided as a war-supporter getting their news from FOX. When I watch a Pentagon briefing I know they are parcing every word and phrase. I know they are presenting info based on what they want the audience to believe. When I watch the Information Minister from Iraq, he's doing the same thing . . . he just lies a lot more often.

In the final analysis, everything our government/media says is NOT truth and everything from Iraq or Arab press is NOT false. As a patriot, I believe it's important to hold OUR government to the highest standard not merely better than a low brow opponent.

 

[Alistar7]

well I'm behind it 110% myself..........

 

[Alistar7]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Of course it's easy to dismiss anyone who disagrees with you as "misguided". Were the polls reversed you would probably view it a bit different.

I'm not dismissive of people who disagree with me. I'm dismissive of people without a well-thought out rationale for their decisions. War-protesters without a clear understanding of the issues are just as misguided as a war-supporter getting their news from FOX. When I watch a Pentagon briefing I know they are parcing every word and phrase. I know they are presenting info based on what they want the audience to believe. When I watch the Information Minister from Iraq, he's doing the same thing . . . he just lies a lot more often.

In the final analysis, everything our government/media says is NOT truth and everything from Iraq or Arab press is NOT false. As a patriot, I believe it's important to hold OUR government to the highest standard not merely better than a low brow opponent.

may I be dismissed?

 

[NesuD]

Originally posted by: Morph
Yes, the propaganda has worked wonders this time around. Our propaganda people are just getting better and better. It's a science now.

Put a sock in it Morph

 

[Morph]

Originally posted by: NesuD

Put a sock in it Morph

Well look at this, I have my own stalker now. Leave me alone, you cretin.

 

[Alistar7]

Originally posted by: Morph
Yes, the propaganda has worked wonders this time around. Our propaganda people are just getting better and better. It's a science now.

that's why were lucky to have you to fill us in on the REAL truth, thanks again....

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

may I be dismissed?

To the bathroom but don't forget to put the seat down . . .

 

[JellyBaby]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
The problem with those numbers lies in the fickle nature of the American public. Support for the war shifted dramatically during the days before and immediately after the war began. The rationales for war did not change but public support increased. In Britain, the shift was more profound . . . roughly 70-30 against became 60-40 in favor. I used the term fickle but many of the shifting opinions were likely driven by patriotism, IMHO misguided but patritotic none the less.

The decision was made. Mom's and dad's now want the war over as soon as possible so their offspring can return home and resume a normal life. The warriors are following orders and the more support they receive from home the quicker and easier their job will be.

 

[NightTrain]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Of course it's easy to dismiss anyone who disagrees with you as "misguided". Were the polls reversed you would probably view it a bit different.

I'm not dismissive of people who disagree with me. I'm dismissive of people without a well-thought out rationale for their decisions. War-protesters without a clear understanding of the issues are just as misguided as a war-supporter getting their news from FOX. When I watch a Pentagon briefing I know they are parcing every word and phrase. I know they are presenting info based on what they want the audience to believe. When I watch the Information Minister from Iraq, he's doing the same thing . . . he just lies a lot more often.

In the final analysis, everything our government/media says is NOT truth and everything from Iraq or Arab press is NOT false. As a patriot, I believe it's important to hold OUR government to the highest standard not merely better than a low brow opponent.

You assume they aren't using a well-thought out rationale based on what? They don't agree with you? Their government may not be 100% truthful? You have obviously "discovered" that, so why couldn't they? People can come to different conclusions or have different opinions based on the same set of facts. To suggest that most people disagree with you simply because they are misguided ignores the fact that good people can just disagree and is indicative of an over-inflated ego.

 

[Alistar7]

Originally posted by: NightTrain

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Of course it's easy to dismiss anyone who disagrees with you as "misguided". Were the polls reversed you would probably view it a bit different.

I'm not dismissive of people who disagree with me. I'm dismissive of people without a well-thought out rationale for their decisions. War-protesters without a clear understanding of the issues are just as misguided as a war-supporter getting their news from FOX. When I watch a Pentagon briefing I know they are parcing every word and phrase. I know they are presenting info based on what they want the audience to believe. When I watch the Information Minister from Iraq, he's doing the same thing . . . he just lies a lot more often.

In the final analysis, everything our government/media says is NOT truth and everything from Iraq or Arab press is NOT false. As a patriot, I believe it's important to hold OUR government to the highest standard not merely better than a low brow opponent.

You assume they aren't using a well-thought out rationale based on what? They don't agree with you? Their government may not be 100% truthful? You have obviously "discovered" that, so why couldn't they? People can come to different conclusions or have different opinions based on the same set of facts. To suggest that most people disagree with you simply because they are misguided ignores the fact that good people can just disagree and is indicative of an over-inflated ego.

ouch, easy man.......he's a Patriot

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

You assume they aren't using a well-thought out rationale based on what? They don't agree with you? Their government may not be 100% truthful? You have obviously "discovered" that, so why couldn't they? People can come to different conclusions or have different opinions based on the same set of facts. To suggest that most people disagree with you simply because they are misguided ignores the fact that good people can disagree and is indicative of an overinflated ego.

A majority of US citizens agreed with my perspective before the war started . . . within days the majority disagreed. What changed was not the basic facts . . . what changed was we had been committed to war by our President (and weak Congress) . . . that's not a rationale for war, it's a rationale for supporting the troops.

You are certainly right learned people can draw different conclusions from identical information . . . say the aluminum tubes

or Nigerian nuke connection

or the utility of Eritrea in a coalition against Saddam

. What is far more common is that people never step back from their preconceived notions to view data sets. The State Dept and DOD have VERY different perspectives on a myriad of issues. They give credence to data which supports their positions while ignoring if not denigrating opposing information (or sources).

Most of the world agrees with my impressions of the war on Iraq . . . but most of my country does not. The countries with supporting pluralities are US, UK, Kuwait, and Israel. Do these countries have greater insight into the conflict or the nature of Saddam's regime . . . do you think anybody knows Saddam better than Syria or Iran? The disagreement was NEVER on the nature of Saddam's regime but on the manner in which the world should address it. The Bush admin (with pivotal support from Blair) created the false dichotomy of invade now or do nothing. I don't understand French AND Russian motivations to be so oppositional to the clear necessity of addressing Saddam in a meaningful manner . . . but just calling it greed is just as simplistic as saying Bush is ignorant . . . true but hardly sufficient to carry an argument.

Oh . . . I do believe my ego is sufficiently inflated NOT overinflated.