Most Americans think the Iraq War was a mistake. So what?
Submitted by Susan Young on Mon, 03/24/2008 - 19:03.
Vice President Dick Cheney, when told by a morning news TV show host that most Americans viewed the invasion of Iraq as a mistake, replied: "So?" He later said the public opposition was not a surprise, and that decisions as serious as going to war should not be based on opinion polls. Do you agree? Should decisions by government take into consideration public opinion? When it is it appropriate and when is it not?
Sounds like a complete
Sounds like a complete sentence from a single minded person. Why should he care? Its not effecting him directly. The ones its effecting are the families that have to bury their young, fathers, mothers, and community members. Government will always fall short when it comes to compassion. The country is not only losing our children we are also losing the value of our hard earned dollars. Bush is going to bury his own country in debt and for what? We aided when Iraq needed assistance. Now its time to bring them home and stop burning our money. His way is creating a grave for the entire United States. He should not only be impeached we should send him to Iraq so he can finish the job and clean up his own mess and he can take Cheney with him! Obviously he has a lot of respect for what the people think. Why should we have to pay for someones over inflated ego? Dad didn't get to do it but I did! The only thing that makes me sleep better at night when it comes to Bush is that he can't run again. Thank God for big favors! I didn't vote for him! The people should have some say over war issues! If they don't ask us then they should pay for the war with their own earnings. I know they get paid more than I would ever see in a life time as pay. So fund their own wars!
Christine of Perry
SO!?
So !? How is this response any different from what Cheney told Leahy!?
Finally get this, People: Cheney and Bush care no more for our Constitution
or the Rule of Law than they do about what Americans think or want.
McCain will be more of the same and WORSE! He's so eager to be a "War President" and BOMB BOMB BOMB Iran that it's practically OOZING out of him! He's starting to talk about Pre-emptive war in the same wheedling dulcet tones Bush uses when he's trying to put something over on us...like Death whispering in your ear!
..Not to mention, he'd be starting out with all the DICTATORIAL powers Bush/Cheney have been amassing for themselves for the past 8 years!
If our Congresscritters don't hurry up and IMPEACH (at the very least!) it will never again matter what Americans want.
These criminals will either slither off to Dubai or somewhere with their ill-gotten gains or start WWIII before the election so they can cancel it entirely...Cheney's ultimate F.U.!
(Don't know who pagicugeb is: this is Bia)
Aahhh The Arrogance
"So!" Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that how a Democracy works? We elect representitives to do what? All together now, "represent us", very good. Not lie to us and in turn send our Nation and its once good name down the drain. This is exactly why we still need to impeach at the very least Mr.Bush. To say to the rest of the world that we do care and are to some extent trying to right our wrong. It's angers me daily when I hear people complaining about budget cuts and short falls. It should be no surprise there is no money left to go around, as it's all been pilfered into the coffers of the few who are responsible for convincing those nessecary to get the bombs a dropping and bullets a flying. I would be willing to bet the farm that none of the powers that be, investment and retirement plans have done anything but well even in this current market. It's time we put our feet down. We elected them and we have to stop them from further destroying our good name.
no
no i dont think the government should ask the people. but they should be more thorough with there planing and execution. The popular thought for World War 2 was isolationism and look what that got us. And im pretty sure it is not the President or even his cabinet that sends our troops overseas it is congress. So if congress is supposed to reflect ist voters opinions and beliefs vice president dick cheney was right to say "so". Congress did vote to go to war and a majority of the people wanted it. I am getting sick of people blaming the president for the war and its failures. They say the pres lied to us and tricked the people into going to war. How can a person that is supposed to be a moron trick a nation into going to war? So many people contradict them selves buy saying Bush is an idiot. But than say he could fool a nation that is supposed to se soooo smart. The people have gotten used to things resolving so quick. Media has programed the masses with T.V and movies that things resolve in 2 hours or less. War is a real issue and not one that can be fixed in thirty minuets. Maybe so was not the right thing to say but they Cheney, and Bush have been drilled about this for a long time. And when things don't go the way people want they want to quit. This nation and Iraq need each other. This nation needs to pull togeather and fix our mistakes not only for us but for the Iraq people.
big brother
This "so" comment by Mr. Cheney, just exemplifies the arrogance of this administration. Their big brother position, that they know what is best for you. I think not, the goverment should always consider public opinion when it is making decisions that effect us all. After all this is supposed to be a democracy, goverment by the people for the people.
Well, they do listen to the public.
Cheney just liked public opinion better, back when people still believed his various excuses. When people believed the mushroom cloud idea, or believed that Saddam had a special relationship with Bin Laden, or that Saddam supported terrorist groups, or that he'd bought yellowcake uranium from Niger, or aluminum tubes of the Wrong Kind, or any of a half dozen other falsehoods, why then, public opinion was supportive, and he took it into account. Now that the fabric of lies has unraveled a bit, he's not finding public opinion to be very convincing.
After all, you people don't have the facts, like Cheney does. He made sure of that, by just not telling you any facts. Being as ignorant as you are, your opinion can be discounted.
Don't feel slighted. Cheney kept Congress from knowing any facts, too. Trust us, they say-- we're experts!
Should public opinion matter?
In a real "republic by, for, and of the people" this question would not even arise. Of course public opinion should matter.It is the reason why we left England in the first place.A public which is given the correct facts will be able to articulate clear and relevant responses.Our current administration likes to uplift public opinion when it supports their ideas, and ignore it when the opposite occurs. What is crucial, in order that public policy does not become an oxymoron,is an independent media, given full access to all the facts of any given issue. As long as secrecy and manipulation of information prevails, the question of "should public opinion should count" is intriguing but irrelevant.
Iraq War - a Travesty
The unmitigated gall of the Vice President is astounding! "So?" It's like the man never left grade school.
Public opinion should be a factor in major political decisions. Not the only factor, of course, but the opinion of the people of our great country must not be discounted.
When the methodology for executing the decision to go to war has been circumvented, as it was in the case of the War in Iraq, it should be considered a crime. The whole situation is nothing short of shameful.
Most Americans think the Iraq war was a mistake
Vice President Cheney's "So?" was revealing but not surprising given the arrogance of this administration, and Cheney's long-held desire for a powerful "unitary executive" which doesn't have to be held accountable. Opposition to the war is not a "fluctuation" but has been growing steadily over the last few years, and our leaders should pay attention.
IRAQ WAR
Going to war should not be based on public opinion. The U.S. congress should decide. Going to war should not be left to an administration that created false information to justify an invasion of another country for no reason other than oil and ego.
There are only a few good reasons for war.
Defense, resistance to occupation-- these are legitimate reasons to take up arms. Neither applies to our war on Iraq, though. The UN may also intervene to oppose aggression, but Saddam had committed no further aggression since the last time, and the UN wasn't going in.
Wresting control of oil resources, punishing non-compliant governments of other countries-- these are goals of aggression, and not legitimate reasons for war. Bush explicitly said his attack was unilateral. He invited the UN to come along, but he was going to attack anyway, on his own. He called that the Bush Doctrine.
To the extent that Congress authorized attacking Iraq, they were complicit in a violation of the Charter. Congress did authorize the whole mess, and I think it was fear of public opinion that drove them to do it.
Cheney, Bush, Rice, Powell, Rumsfeld-- they all claimed Saddam worked hand in glove with al-Qaeda! Anyone with enough brains to wave bye-bye knew Saddam didn't work with al-Qaeda, but Congress couldn't open their own mail, because of anthrax, and the administration was trumpeting a connection to al-Qaeda every day on the television. The members were afraid the public would vote them out if they didn't give Bush the go-ahead. To that extent, they were listening to the public.
Then, too, a great many Republicans will vote for anything whatsoever if a Republican president requests it. The GOP is stanch about party loyalty. It's all very well to say that Congress must decide for war, and not the executive, but no one can make good decisions with no sound data.