Back during my drinking days, more than 10 years ago, I used to get hangovers. I’d wake up the next morning, head pounding, stomach churning, swearing that no matter how much fun I had the night before it was not worth the pain in the morning. According to a new poll, Americans are waking up from their war bender, and many think it wasn’t worth the aftermath.
Fifty-two per cent of Americans believe the Iraq war was not worth fighting in what amounts to a repudiation of President George W Bush’s argument that winning in Iraq is key to prevailing in the war on terror, according to a new opinion poll.
The joint survey by ABC News and the Washington Post also indicated that seven in 10 Americans found US casualties were “unacceptable,” while the number of those confident the war has enhanced long-term US security has slid 11 points this year, to 51 per cent.
Slowly but surely, Americans are waking up, shaking their heads and wondering how we let ourselves get into this mess. Unfortunately, those who supported this war—those who bellied up to the bar for another round of “war fever,” as long as Bush was buyin—have no one but themselves to blame. The only problem is that we all get to live with the hangover.