Poll: Sending troops to Iraq a mistake. Presidential contest a tie among likely voters
Bush: War not inciting terrorists: 'I do believe the world is a safer place'
On September 11, 2001, we were attacked in an unprovoked fashion -- everybody thought the world was calm. There [have] been bombings since then, not because of my response to Iraq. There were bombings in Madrid. There were bombings in Istanbul. There were bombings in Bali. There were killings in Pakistan. I do believe the world is a safer place and becoming a safer place.... People join terrorist organizations because there's no hope and there's no chance to raise their families in a peaceful world where there is not freedom ... so the idea is to promote freedom and at the same time protect our security. And I do believe that the world is becoming a better place, absolutely.
- George W. Bush
If your definition of the world being a safer place means Americans aren't being blown up, well, you'd be wrong, but you can believe what you choose. My Conservative readers generally seem to hang on every word that comes out of Bush's mouth, whether grounded in reality or not. It's not about truth. No, it seems to be more about the willing suspension of disbelief.
It does appear, thankfully and finally, that Americans might just be beginning to wake up from their long, numb, Republican-induced slumber to realize that maybe, just maybe, the Emperor is buck-naked.
For the first time since the start of the war in Iraq, a majority of Americans surveyed in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll say the United States made a mistake in sending troops to that country.
Fifty-four percent of those polled said it was a mistake to send U.S. troops to Iraq, compared with 41 percent who expressed that sentiment in early June.
Most respondents to the poll, 55 percent, also said they don't believe the war has made the United States safer from terrorism -- rejecting an argument that President Bush has repeatedly advanced in his rationale for the war.
Unfortunately, the poll also indicated that John Kerry hasn't exactly taken advantage of this uneasiness in the American electorate. The Kerry campaign seems to lack anything resembling a killer instinct. Clearly, a majority of Americans now believe that BushCo has screwed the pooch in Iraq. It's incumbent upon John Kerry to take advantage of this opportunity. The question, of course, is can he?
Where is Wesley Clark when we need him??? John Edwards may or may not provide the impetus to push the Democratic ticket over the top, but John Kerry is going to need all the help he can get.
