War Support

It has been noted in the press that one of the reasons for the Democrat gains in Congress was an erosion of the support for the War on Terror. There has undoubtedly been some erosion, though exactly how much would be hard to quantify. However, it is my belief that the support for the war would be greater if the American public felt it had a greater stake in it. Currently, people feel a hypothetical antipathy for the war because most have not experienced it first hand and they have not made any sacrifice for its successful conclusion.

I remember when this whole thing started, people wondered if this were going to be like WWII (when there was rationing and a tremendous build-up). The president assured us that, for most of us, life could go on as normal, and I felt in the air, not a sense of relief, but rather a sense of disappointment that individuals could do nothing to contribute. There were no paper drives, no war bonds, no Rosie the Riveters, only people going about doing what they always did, while politics as usual went on in Washington.

It would have been far better for the country had people been encouraged to sacrifice for the troops, if patriotic gestures would have been encouraged, marching in the streets in support of the war, if the real enemies had been more clearly delineated and pursued (the axis of evil for example). Yes, we Conservatives do intellectually understand that to lose this war is to lose our way of life, but the general public does not yet seem to be aware of it, and perhaps it is because, if it was such an all-fired important struggle, shouldn't we be getting out our sledge-hammers to swat the flies of Al-Qaeda?