Iraqi war has negative impact on life in the USA

DallasBlog.com:

“A new Gallup poll found that 58% of Americans believe that the war in Iraq has had a negative effect on life in the US. That is a reversal from the results immediately after the war began in which 52% of Americans said that the war had a positive effect on life in the United States”

Ed Cognoski responds:

D'oh. We're at war, folks. A global war. A global war on terror. We're in the middle of that war. It hasn't been won. The President has even taken to calling it the "Long War." Since when have nations begun thinking that war improves life? War is sometimes a necessary evil. Wars fought and won, eliminating a foe that attacked our lives and liberties, can lead to safer and more prosperous times later. But before then, while the war is still raging, soldiers still dying, the impact of the war, any war, is negative. Papering over that hard truth is dangerous to the nation's security.

We can speculate how Americans ever got the absurd notion that war had a positive impact. It could be that President Bush never asked Americans to sacrifice for this war. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, President Bush encouraged Americans to visit DisneyWorld. He refused to account for the cost of the war in the federal budget. He urged Congress to pass even more tax cuts and make the ones already passed permanent. He prematurely declared an end to major combat operations. He implied that by waging war in Iraq, America can have peace at home. Americans bought this line of thinking, at least for a while. The polls are now showing that the old adage is still true: you can't fool all the people all the time.