Part II: How This Shaped Our Reaction to Iraq
Explanation 1- Americans Have Grown Used to the Idea of Interventionalist Policy
| The wars that have involved the United States previous to the war in Iraq, specifically World War II, the Cold War period, and Vietnam, have had a significant impact on the way in which Americans reacted to the War in Iraq. Americans have been slowly getting more and more used to our country’s Interventionalist position in the world. This can be clearly seen in the approval ratings of the Iraq war compared to the Approval ratings of the Vietnam War, as seen in Figure 1. Although they are split more by party, they still remain significantly lower than their Vietnam counterparts, with the exception of the democrats, whose disapproval rating only rose 7%. Clearly, the American public did not have as much of an issue with the Interventionalist policy, as in the past. Of course, there are still those who disagree with the war |
Figure 1. |
Figure 2. |
The public’s opinion can be seen in the way they react to the September 11 attack as well. An image of the attack can be seen in Figure 2.Many people throughout America switched foreign policy perspectives quickly after the attack. Debbie Spinner, whose memoir about the attack is part of the September 11 Documentary Project issued by the Library of Congress, writes “To THE USA, LET'S STICK TOGETHER AND SHOW THE OTHER COUNTRIES THAT we may hurt for a bit, but when we make a come back, WE MAKE A COME BACK…We as a nation [are] like a normal family. We fight among ourselves but let someone come and try to mess with us, LOOK OUT!” Obviously, the American public was having less and less problems with Interventionalist problems, as they had in the past. |
This is true particularly after September 11. It was during that period that Bush's approval ratings were at their highest, as seen in Figure 3. Since then his approval has dropped more than 60%.
Figure 3.
It is also clear that the government has continued on its path of interventionalism. President Bush’s rationale for the war in Iraq shows this plainly. According to the Washington Post Bush said before the war began, “Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.” He explained that we were going to war to fight off the WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction).
| He also insinuated connections to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. However, after evidence came out that no WMD’s were discovered in Iraq, he changed his rationale to the fact that Hussein was a threat none-the-less. Glenn Kesseler of the Washington Post wrote, “Bush said Iraq had been a "unique threat" and the United States was justified in attacking, largely because Hussein "retained the knowledge, the materials, the means, and the intent to produce weapons of mass destruction." Either way, the rationale for the war clearly shows Interventionalist policies, which have been rising in popularity in the capitol. Some soldiers in Iraq can be seen in Figure 4. Between the government’s policy and the American public, the United States has made a large shift toward interventionalism, which began with World War II and carried through the following war periods. This shift plainly affected the way in which Americans have reacted to the War on Terror in Iraq. |
Figure 4. |
Explanation 2- Vietnam Taught Americans to Question the Government
America was never the same after the Vietnam War. Long before that, Americans had faith in the government and were proud to be American, but the Vietnam conflict taught people to question the government’s actions on a large scale never seen before. People around the nation joined in protest to object to the government’s decision to go to war; the people could not see the reasons why the nation was at war and what exactly America was fighting. Jeff Leon wrote for the Washington Post, in which he quotes a police cheif that worked with rioters in Washington D.C. He quoted him saying, "It was a time in which there was a very great deal of turbulence on the one hand, but also a period in which citizenship took on the form of real action...A lot of them came down because they felt very strongly about what they were doing." Americans were so against the Vietnam war because they did not understand it or its purpose. Eventually, the approval ratings of President Johnson decreased as time went on. His re-election campaign was disastrous as protestors shouted “LBJ, LBJ! How many kids you gonna kill today?”
| Today, the United States is at war with terrorism, not a nation or specific enemy but an ideology, just like we once had been against the ideology of communism. Once again the people of the U.S. cannot understand why. The U.S. attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001 affiliated with Osama Bin Laden, pictured in Figure 1. Instead however, America went to war with “terrorism” and ended up in Iraq fighting Saddam Hussein, pictured in Figure 2. |
Figure 1. |
Figure 3. |
Once again, it seemed as history was almost repeating itself. Like Vietnam, people were open to the idea of going to Iraq but once Americans saw that nothing was really being accomplished that was affecting Americans in a positive manner, the protests began. Lisa Lambert wrote in "End This War" that appeared on the Reuters News Site, "'We're here to bring a dose of reality to the American public," said Chad Hetman, a member of an anti-war veterans' group." This war was based on lies." Like, Lyndon B. Johnson, President Bush’s approval ratings are slowly decreasing. This can be seen in Figure 3. |
Figure 3.
What happened to America during Vietnam has deeply impacted how Americans perceive the War on Terror.
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