New NYT/CBS poll shows nearly 1/2 of Americans believe war

[doni_georgia]

in Iraq was a mistake. This according to AA radio news. These numbers are nearly identical to the numbers of a 1968 poll about the war in Vietnam. Another one from AAR news - Frank Lautenberg called Cheney "The head chikenhawk" on the Senate floor today.

[Nlighten1]

1. But wait...

I heard NPR whoring this morning that the majority of Americans support sending more troops to Iraq...how can this be?

[NMDemDist2]

3. the war is a mistake, but send enough troops to get our guys out? n/t

[Nlighten1]

5. That wasn't the context of this interview...

There was some jerk sitting in for Diane Rehm who was interviewing this author of a book called "Roadmap to" something. The host was quoting Thomas Friedman and the guest couldn't gush enough over this war and how the people in the middle east just "don't get" democracy.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. I hope that Americans see the light SOON!

[DrWeird]

4. 1968?

What was the antiwar movement like in 1968?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. You had to be there

it was just getting started. I think RFK's assassination really set things off-many who felt that they could work within the system to change things decided they couldn't-and they made themselves known in Chicago that year. I graduated high school three days after RFK's death-that and MLK's assassination will always mark that year as one of sadness for me.

[DrWeird]

9. When did things really get up to speed?

69?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. '70 - Kent State Massacre

brought out protestors in the thousands. Shut down several college campuses, including the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. I remember walking in a protest march from the campus to West Side Park in Champaign, talking to Quaker ladies in conservative dresses.

[NMDemDist2]

16. it really got hot after Kent State and the Cambodia bombings

but in Berkly i was marching in 1968-9 Remember the Chicago 7, the anti war movement was going strong then. and the Panthers were really getting going

[Jacobin]

8. I was marching in the streets in 1968

Robert Kennedy was assasinated.

Transfer tubes were coming over by the bucket load.

People were fleeing to Canada.

And Nixon get elected by saying he had a "secret plan" to end the war.

LBJ resigned in despair because he had sent so many to their deaths and knew it could never be won.

It was bad.

[Jackpine Radical]

14. I think that "Secret Plan" bit was from the '72 election

agaionst McGovern.

[papau]

6. Kerry over Bush 46 to 44, but Kerry loses/Nader gets 5% w/Nader in race

Kerry over Bush 46 to 44, but Kerry loses/Nader gets 5% w/Nader in race


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/28/opinion/polls/main614605.sht...

Poll: Growing Doubts On Iraq

NEW YORK, April 28, 2004<snip>The struggles in Iraq appear to have hurt assessments of the President. His overall approval rating (46 percent - 47% disapprove), his rating on handling Iraq (41 percent), and his rating on handling foreign policy (40 percent) are at the lowest points ever in this Administration. In each case, more disapprove than approve. 53 percent of voters are uneasy about Bush’s handling of international crisis, figures unmatched since before 9/11. But these declines come as Americans see economic improvement -- 55 percent now say the economy is in good shape.

Bush’s Democratic opponent, John Kerry, also has weaknesses. The President is far more likely than Kerry to be viewed as saying what he really believes. Bush holds an edge over Kerry on moral values, vision, and likeability. But voters view each candidate more negatively than positively, and when asked whom they’d support if the November election were held today (though it is still six months in the future) they divide almost evenly: Kerry 46 percent, Bush 44 percent. Should Ralph Nader join the race, it becomes Bush 43 percent, Kerry 41 percent, and Nader 5 percent. <snip>

Americans are now evenly divided on whether to call the war a mistake. 48 percent say it was a mistake to get involved in Iraq, and 46 percent say it was not a mistake. This, too, is a large shift from one year ago: in April of 2003 only 24 percent of Americans thought getting involved in Iraq was a mistake. Americans' current assessment of whether Iraq was a mistake is similar to views of the Vietnam conflict as measured in a Gallup Poll of April 1968, when 48 percent of Americans then said that getting involved in Vietnam was a mistake. <snip>

Even though Americans may be more optimistic about the economy, the public continues to think the country is headed in the wrong direction. More than half -- 55 percent -- think things in this country have gotten off on the wrong track, while 36 percent say things are headed in the right direction. A year ago, Americans said the country was headed in the right direction. <snip>

[PROGRESSIVE1]

10. "55% approve of the state of the economy"

??? :wtf:

Again....:wtf:???

[ulTRAX]

11. that is encouraging

By 1968 the US had been involved in Vietnam for over a decade and in a major air/land war for at least 4 years.

While duped initially, it's encouraging that the US public seems less willing to support illegal wars of aggression today than they were in, say 1965. What's discouraging is that this number is still at 50%... and it's likely to stay there since Kerry really hasn't distinguished himself from Bush.

[Snoggera]

12. Apparently, more than half are mentally deficient

I don't see this as hopeful.

People are fools, and do their best to prove it every day.

[BeFree]

13. Durn Sheeple

The numbers against the war oughtta be much much higher. Durn it!

Now you see why Kerry must walk a fine line on Iraq. We need a bunch of the sheeple to vote for our side and we can't afford to piss-off too many of them. As individuals, I say, go at it - speak for the end of war as often as you can, but keep Kerry out of it, let him run his election in his own way (at least as far as Iraq goes).

Peace. Bring our boys home. Now. They and the Iraqis will both be glad.