298,144,215 Decide to Not Protest War in D.C. This Weekend

[SteveMetz]

Speaking of insubstantial...

Pro-war is largely silly. If it were to evolve into the theoretical fantasy counterpoint of the bulk of the anti-war crowd, I would not want to be anywhere near those folks. Similar to dealing with the Pro-Kill-Babies faction instead of Pro-Choice.

Whenever I see one of those stupid "War is not the answer" bumper stickers, I know that this is a sheltered person who is not living in the real world. What is the question that war is not the answer to? War is never a good answer. But sometimes it is the least bad one.

I hope and think that no one here downplays the serious anti-war contingent, their message, and the limitations of the use of force. But that is a sophisticated argument that is not the one that most protesters chant and get some press coverage about. This is not about elementary school platitudes and text book morality.

I agree with you. The concept of being "pro war" is morally repugnant. But the idea of heaping punishment on ourselves for strategic mistakes made five years ago, which seems to be the gist of the Cindy Sheehan/Michael Moore line, is simply wrong.

The whole issue pivots on whether one believes the strategic costs of continued engagement in Iraq outweigh the strategic costs of immediate or quick disengagement. If I were emperor of the world for a day, I'd find a way to get a fair poll of the Iraqi people and I'd ask the opinion of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. I'd use those results to decide whether to begin some sort of disengagement.

[Tacitus]

The whole issue pivots on whether one believes the strategic costs of continued engagement in Iraq outweigh the strategic costs of immediate or quick disengagement.

I'm not sure this is the full range of options.
1a. Stay the course (whatever that means exactly).
1b. "Surge". That word suggests a temporary reinforcement at a rapid pace, but I'm not clear if that really just means higher troop levels in Al Anbar and Baghdad for the remainder of Bush's term of office. "Surge" is not really a military term I've seen in most history books.

2. Immediate or quick disengagement.

There does exist another option, such as a gradual disengagement. Perhaps that is a more feasible option. Not to mention the most likely, no matter what the political rhetoric is.

As to demonstrations, I don't think there is really that much pro-war of anti-war conviction out there amongst most people. Most just go on with their daily routine, the war has zero impact on their lives. It seems to me mainly just rhetoric, coming down to whether or not you support the Administration over a whole range of issues, or not.

The lack of a well-organized Vietnam style protest movement most likely points to the absence of a draft. Start a draft, and trust me, you'll see plenty of demonstrations. As for the most vocal pro-Iraq war crowd around here, I don't see them beating a path to the recruiting stations to either sign up or to urge their sons to sign up.