The most frustrating thing about domestic opinions of the Iraq war...

[AngryYoungMan]

...is that people don't have the slightest idea what the real reasons were.

The wide-eyed reporter from NBC during the debate; the letters on that page about "My son dies for nothing"... they can't accept that Bush lied because they can't fathom why he would do it.

Most pro-war Americans accept the bogus 9/11 argument or the bogus WMD argument. It is very difficult to talk them out of it, because they literally don't comprehend what other rationale there could be. (The closest they seem to come is that it was some kind of "vendetta" after Gulf War I, but that gets rejected too, because it doesn't apply to the congress.)

What can we do to get these people to see this thing clearly? The problem isn't that they don't accept our position. The problem is that they mostly haven't even HEARD OF our position. (Oil, Halliburton, profiteering, etc.)

It's very frustrating.

[Postman]

1. They're too stupid to be educated.

If Rush Limbaugh told them the sky is red, they would swear that it is red and not even think rationally.

They have no critical thinking skills. Its a culture of red, white and blue mythology that trumps truth.

[AngryYoungMan]

2. Respectfully, I don't agree.

People are quite capable of grasping the truth, if it's made available to them. They could easily follow Watergate. They were asked to follow Whitewater, and, while most were confused by it, the gist got across because it was hammered over and over. Ditto about Waco, Lewinsky, the O. J. Simpson trial, Survivor, etc. People will devour details if they want to, and will master complexities like point spreads on football games if they want to. You're providing a "blame the victim" argument.

[PVnRT]

8. OK....

So, everyone who doesn't post at DU listens to Rush and refuses to think for themselves, is that it?

I suppose it is easier to just give up and curse all those stupid little people than actually put the work in to get the truth to them, isn't it?

[displacedtexan]

3. IMHO, the real reason folks are pro-war is because...

they just want the oil, and they don't give a freeper's frump about the justification of attacking a sovereign nation in order to get it.

Because they just want the oil, they're going along with the BFEE's crappy reasons (outright lies) for invading Iraq.

[AngryYoungMan]

4. I'm not talking about those people

I'm talking about rank-and-file republicans (like my extended family) who believe that invading Iraq is a "war on terrorism."

[Atman]

5. What people do for power and money

I know first hand. I founded a dot com prior to the crash. An ill-advised copyright buy-out left me with a significant majority of company stock, but most of it was non-voting. Once that happened, all hell broke lose in my life. Wall Street weasels and the venture capitalists on board went after me like...well, sharks. The value of the stock was only about 1.5 million, but you'd think it was a trillion. They eventually found ways to remove me from my own company, and I lost my house of 15 years in the process. I had raised $400,000 in six months as seed money, almost all of which managed to find its way back to the lawyers and Wall Streeters after they removed me. The dot com still exists, but they scrapped all the work I did and the new chairmen gave all the creative work to another one of his own companies, renegging on a promise that I'd at least get the contract for the creative work...but now I was peniless and couldn't even afford retainers for lawyers. Which was their plan. Now I live in a rental home, my credit ruined for a few more years. Fortunately, I was working again quickly (on my own) and my wife has a good job.

But, when I saw what men would do for 1.5 million dollars, it clarified how evil people can really be. So when people say "Why would Bush do that?" I remind them of what people did to me. Then tell them to multiply that by control of the world.

Power and money corrupt the soul-less.

[Ardee]

10. ahh the capitalist system,aint it grand

While I commiserate with you I must note that this is a very,very common scenario here in paradise.As a former business owner myself I am very familiar with the way the system seeks to wring every damn penny of profitability out of your endeavor.

[FormerOstrich]

11. Atman,

I know all too well of which you speak. You are so right.

I honestly do not understand the way some (most) people view money. I have witnessed and been victim of such veracious business dealings. Honestly, you have to actually have first hand experience to really understand what you are saying.

In a misguided attempt to preserver I made what I describe as a deal with the devil. Only I am not sure why it had never occurred to me that; if I won, the devil wouldn't necessarily honor is end of the deal.

I suppose, for those that endure, the bright side lies in the experiences build character.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. They are not too stupid

or uneducated, they are too afraid to face the truth.

If and when they face the truth about who and what W really is, their whole reality will shatter. Every thing they ever believed in will fall apart. To be able to wrap your mind around the criminality of Bu$h and his cabal is a very difficult thing, even for most liberals to comprehend.

We were all raised to believe that America was the best. We were the land of the free and the home of the brave. We were honest and good and we worked hard to build a great nation. We were the great melting pot, we welcomed all people, we didn't try to destroy them. We were the benevolent super power, we didn't always do the right thing but we trusted our leaders to at least try their best. Now we are in the hands of an evil cabal, who have taken over the great land and spread their darkness.

Then one day you wake up and you look at George W. Bu$h. For me it was the morning of 9-11. At that moment, thousands of people in NYC were dying. And you watch Bu$h sit there and wait. And sit there and do nothing. And then you realize, this is the most evil man on the planet. It takes a while to recover from that realization, even for those of us who already knew what the neocons were bad people. I don't think any of us ever thought they would be this bad?

[htuttle]

7. I knew they would be evil

I just didn't realize they would be this incompetent.

[Mari333]

9. Its enraging, I am vilified by many in my town

and yesterday I sent a letter to the paper vilifying the war as a mother of a soldier..they hate that. It blows their bubble, it runs their delusion.
Its high time the military parents were seen , and their own rage is shown to these yahoos who wrap themselves in flags and prance around. I wont be quiet either.