After weeks of the economy taking over first place in the concernof Americans, at least according to the polls, the war in Iraq may be staging a comeback.
That?s the unscientific reading I get from my own e-mail bag, particularly in response to my column about the fifth anniversary of the war and the American death toll reaching the round number of 4,000.
The column took special note of Vice President Dick Cheney?s one-word comment ? “So?” ? to a television reporter?s reminder that “two-thirds of Americans say it?s not worth fighting” and that “most Americans say the war was a mistake.”
When the reporter asked: “So, you don?t care what the American people think?” Cheney replied: “No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.” He went on to muse on what Abraham Lincoln might have said and done had he “paid attention to polls,” assuming they existed at the time.
Some readers sounded offended that Cheney?s glib comment should be questioned. One wrote: “It?s articles like this and people like you that write them that give hope to our enemies that they still have a chance of bringing down the USA. You should give thanks to those 4,000 troops that died so you can have the freedom to write what you feel. It?s too bad you weren?t in Iraq, before the fall of Saddam, you could have helped the 6,000 plus people who died at the hands of his regime by writing how bad of a person Saddam was.”
One husband and wife offered this in the same vein: “Many of the casualties in the current war owe their fate to the appeasers in the U.S. and Europe. In the future, if there is a free, democratic, non-terrorist Middle East, it will be in spite of the Democratic Party, CNN, the New York Times, et al, and not because of them. The same can be said if there is a free and sovereign United States at that time.”
And still another: “I guess that you never attended civics or history class in school to learn how our system works. We do not determine our foreign policy or defense strategy by checking polls and focus groups. We are fighting an enemy that must be defeated or we will not have to worry about our economy. I am truly amazed that people think we can make nice to people that hate us. As is usual, people give aid and comfort to an enemy that will keep coming at us whether or not we stay in Iraq.”
And then from the other side came this: “I love my country but my government can go to h—!We are over in Iraq, according to our government, to fight terrorism on their front, not here in America. … The Arabs must be laughing hysterically to themselves because we can?t see the forest for the trees. … Our economy and old-age benefits are going bottoms up because we need to ?fight terrorism? on their front. … The monies being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan to fight terrorism come from some place and my guess is Social Security.”
And also this: “This whole war was never about the great people of this country but about Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rumsfeld and their refusal to admit that they made a huge and costly mistake. Very, very arrogant people. I did not vote for Mr. Bush in either election. Had I done so, I probably would have been extremely depressed. …
“This country really needs an easy way to impeach the president within the four-year term. We need to get people like Mr. Bush out of office when he defies the people of this country and heads in his own direction. In business, you do a bad job, you get fired on the spot. In politics you just finish out your term. … I only hope that a lot of people … understand how important it is to vote for the ?best person.? ”
Well, at least folks seem to be getting back to talking about the war. In seven more months, they?ll have a chance to cast their votes on it.
