>Another reason for this failure of US-ers (especially white ones) to
>think entirely rationally about war and foreign policy, I think, is
>that they have enjoyed a geographical separation from enemies, for
>the most part, unlike other parts of the world, especially Europe
>and Asia, where wars were fought on the home territories of the
>populations in question.
Yes, but...the poll numbers on whether the war in Iraq increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks have turned around. As I posted the other day:
>[from Ruy Teixeira's Public Opinion Watch]
>
>The War on Terror, Two Years After
>
>Knowledge Networks poll of 1,217 adults for Program on International
>Policy Attitudes (PIPA), released September 9, 2003 (conducted
>August 26-September 3, 2003)
>
[...]
>First, do Americans feel safer than they did two years ago, in the
>wake of the terrorist attacks? Not really. Only 24 percent feel
>safer, compared to 28 percent who feel less safe and 48 percent who
>believe there hasn't been much change. And when the question is
>framed simply in terms of whether Bush administration efforts to
>reduce terrorist attacks have made them feel safer, the response is
>still not very positive: 46 percent say those efforts have made them
>feel safer, while 53 percent say either that the efforts haven't
>made much difference (45 percent) or actually feel the efforts have
>made them feel less safe (8 percent).
>
>The public also feels that the U.S. military presence in the Middle
>East is not making them safer. By two to one (64 percent to 32
>percent), they believe that it is increasing, not decreasing, the
>likelihood of attacks.
[...]