It looks like the American people have more sense about what is happening in Afghanistan and what the US ought to do about its presence there - get out!'
"One finding from the new Washington Post/ABC News poll has received some attention: Americans -- by the large margin of 31-64% -- believe that "all in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, the war in Afghanistan has not been worth fighting." And they believe by an even wider margin -- 71-23% -- that the "United States should withdraw a substantial number of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan this summer" (though 53% doubt, probably presciently, that this will happen). But what's even more striking is that a mere 17% of the American citizenry "strongly believes" that the war was worth fighting (see this very good analysis of how dubious is the administration's new positive war spin).
It may be that some policies should be continued as desirable no matter how little public support they command. But war is different. Wars are supposed to be fought only when the citizenry is behind them and they are absolutely necessary. It's almost impossible to imagine a situation where a war should be continued when only 17% of the nation's citizens "strongly believe" it's worth fighting. Almost by definition, a nation shouldn't be fighting a war -- especially in another country -- if such a small fraction of its citizens believe it's truly necessary. What justifies sending fellow citizens off to die -- let alone killing people in the country we've invaded -- if so few people believe it's worthwhile let alone necessary? But this underscores yet again the most ingenious and valuable achievement of the National Security State: enabling endless war while appearing to impose costs on only a tiny percentage of the population, thus ensuring that pointless, unnecessary, unjust wars will continue without much resistance even when the vast majority of the public recognizes them as such."
"One finding from the new Washington Post/ABC News poll has received some attention: Americans -- by the large margin of 31-64% -- believe that "all in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, the war in Afghanistan has not been worth fighting." And they believe by an even wider margin -- 71-23% -- that the "United States should withdraw a substantial number of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan this summer" (though 53% doubt, probably presciently, that this will happen). But what's even more striking is that a mere 17% of the American citizenry "strongly believes" that the war was worth fighting (see this very good analysis of how dubious is the administration's new positive war spin).
It may be that some policies should be continued as desirable no matter how little public support they command. But war is different. Wars are supposed to be fought only when the citizenry is behind them and they are absolutely necessary. It's almost impossible to imagine a situation where a war should be continued when only 17% of the nation's citizens "strongly believe" it's worth fighting. Almost by definition, a nation shouldn't be fighting a war -- especially in another country -- if such a small fraction of its citizens believe it's truly necessary. What justifies sending fellow citizens off to die -- let alone killing people in the country we've invaded -- if so few people believe it's worthwhile let alone necessary? But this underscores yet again the most ingenious and valuable achievement of the National Security State: enabling endless war while appearing to impose costs on only a tiny percentage of the population, thus ensuring that pointless, unnecessary, unjust wars will continue without much resistance even when the vast majority of the public recognizes them as such."
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