The War’s More Popular Than Bush

The War’s More Popular Than Bush

George Bush’s approval ratings have hit a record low according to a new poll released Monday night, but what does that really mean?

Well, consider this:

Bush’s approval rating has fallen to 36 percent, according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

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George Bush’s approval ratings have hit a record low according to a new poll released Monday night, but what does that really mean?

Well, consider this:

Bush’s approval rating has fallen to 36 percent, according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

By comparison, 38 percent of Americans believe the war in Iraq is going well.

That’s right. In the midst of a dramatic degeneration of the Iraq occupation, with the explosion of sectarian violence following February’s bombing of the al-Askariya mosque in Samarra, with the U.S. casualty numbers pushing rapidly upward — to 2,309 dead and 17,004 wounded as of Monday — and with the military newspaper Stars and Stripes reporting a new poll that shows almost three quarters of U.S. troops serving in Iraq favor complete withdrawal from that country within a year, more Americans think the war is "going well" than think George Bush’s presidency is "going well."

So why is Bush less popular than his war?

Another poll result may answer that question:

When asked if they thought the Bush administration deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, 51 percent of those surveyed said the president had lied.

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Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

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