WP: Worry and Anger Over Iraq Situation

[kskiska]

Poll, Interviews Find Rising Concern

OGALLALA, Neb. -- From this edge of the western plains to California's palm-lined drives to New York's urban canyons, Americans say they are worried and angry about the U.S. role in Iraq, with their anxiety matching that of the earliest days of the war when the success of the push to Baghdad was far from secure.

Nearly daily attacks on U.S. troops and continuing revelations about abuse of Iraqi prisoners have combined to stir the unrest, leading many to doubt whether the outcome will match the Bush administration's stated goals for going to war.

"I'm getting worried now about this war," Betty Johnson said this week as she waited for two soft pretzels at downtown Ogallala's meeting place, the Spruce Street Sandwich Shop. "Before, I felt it was something we had to do. But it's going so bad. So I wonder now, kind of, what's the point?"

A few blocks away, Bill Terry pondered the same question. "If we'd found . . . nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, that would be something," Terry said as he tallied receipts at his gas station alongside Interstate 80. "We got Saddam out of there. But I think there's just as bad people in the rest of the world. So, for all the mess, what have we got out of it?"

Such questions reflect the concerns of a majority of the nation. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll, concluded Sunday night, found that two-thirds of Americans -- 67 percent -- describe themselves as "worried" about the situation in Iraq. In early March of last year, days after combat began, 64 percent said they were worried about the war.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61585-2004May27.html

[roguevalley]

1. I'll take 'em where I can get them. Bout time but good. Need more and

more people and I think they are all coming to that conclusion. The test will be November.

[AlCzervik]

2. They talked to people from all over the place for this article.

I think this quote speaks or alot of people.

"I am angry with the president," said John Lopez, a veterinary technician in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood. "We are there because of his obsession to go there, and I've gotten angrier and angrier. I can't turn the television on in the morning to 'Good Morning America' because in five minutes I am frothing at the mouth. It is a fiasco."

[stevedeshazer]

3. Good snapshot

The whole article is worth the read.

[FrankBooth]

8. Hilarious photo!

I laugh every time I see it.

[grytpype]

4. Events are closing in on Bush.

Anyone still seriously think Bush could be re-elected?

[leesa]

5. I'm seeing a sprinklling of Bush/Cheney bumperstickers but the drivers

look rather abashed. They are starting to realize they have been conned. I think I see more anger...misdirected at my bumper sticker, "Bush Lied, People Died", but I think they are beginning to know they were made the fool.

This is fascistland San Diego area.

[daleo]

6. It is good that people are seeing the light

Lots would still be OK with the war, if things were going better, according to the article. It is too bad that they don't feel it was a bad idea, regardless of whether the coalition is "winning".

There is still some who will go along with genocide:

"Others are just as angry but direct their emotion toward Iraqi fighters. "I'm worried about our soldiers getting killed over there," said Steve Schwartzkopf ("No relation to the general," he said, smiling) as he worked behind the counter of Ogallala's Runza restaurant. "I think we should just go for it, you know, drop bombs and clear out any city where Americans are killed. But we're not willing to do that.""

[Th1onein]

7. The truth about this awful war is sinking in.........

whether or not they read the details. The information is in the air; the more that become informed as to what is going on, the more the truth will spread.........

I think that this is good evidence for the "100th monkey" phenomena.