How many casulties will the American people tolerate in Iraq?

[bluestateguy]

How many American soldiers will die in Iraq before the American public says "enough is enough"? I say American soldiers because regretably most Americans just do not care about Iraqi civilian dead. Sad, but Iraqi civilian dead just will not turn the bulk of the public against the war. Only All-American boys coming home in body bags will strike a chord with white-bread mushy middle voters in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The question then becomes how many before they say "enough"?

On edit: I have no beef with Green Bay (just the Packers; I'm a 49er fan). It could be in any locale.

[iangb]

1. I remember some pre-war polling.......

......that indicated people's support for the war dropped off when the prospect of 30,000 or more casualties was put to them.......I haven't seen any reliable recent polls.

[kyrasdad]

2. When we hit

the 800-900's I think you'll see a lot more outcry than you are now. This latest helicopter crash has got a lot of folks around here up in arms and thinking differently now (I live in Bush is God territory) and really beginning to question not only the reason why we are there, but the strategy also.

It's a sad thing to say, but for each American killed over there is one mother and father who will vote against Bush here...

[david_vincent]

I've been wondering that very thing myself

Sadly, I think this is one case where direct comparison with Vietnam is warranted. I really think the American people will tolerate upwards of 15,000. Given that this is being sold to the public as a "defensive" action and that most people are more than willing to believe everything they're told, it's going to take an awful lot of deaths. On the other hand, we probably will pull out before that point is reached, so that there will still be a large segment of the populace who will never believe that invading Iraq is/was wrong.

[jmags]

8. Your crazy.

The toll is nowhere near a thousand and already Bush faces polls showing more people disapprove of Iraq than approve. If the deathtoll gets upwards of 750 with Bush still in office, his numbers will likely be in the 20's.

[david_vincent]

9. My crazy what?

And if we pull out soon, we'll only confirm the opinion that people worldwide have of us, that we don't have any appetite for fighting and we're easily defeated, like a toothless lion. Great news for terrorists (who happen to exist, if you hadn't noticed).
And those numbers don't mean a lot to a man who has nearly 200 million dollars on tap and stole the White House in the first place. Maybe you think he's above doing it again.
Oh, did you mean to use a contraction instead of a possessive?

[xray s]

3. Too many

:(

[Nickie]

24. to many

you are right, to many have already died

[bluestateguy]

4. kick

:kick:

[tom_paine]

5. Nearly limitless. Goebbels v2.0 is too damned strong

10,000...20,000...50,000?

Imperial Amerika is rapidly approaching a Soviet State of Mind. What's worse, so convinced of our own "goodness" (or should I say the Busheviks' "goodness") that we are nowhere near the level of cynicism which should be sprouting everywhere given the number of Bushevik lies that have been debunked.

We will soon enter a More Soviet situation where the truth doesn't even squeak out anymore briefly in a local newspaper or in the Style section.

I fear a long, hard road to hoe for the Imperial Subjects of Amerika.

They may wake up...but from this moment it looks like it won't be until it i far too late.

[Minstrel Boy]

10. I'm afraid you're right,

just as I usually fear I'm right.

It's only beginning to begin. There are still thousands and tens of thousands to perish. And not merely in Iraq. And I'm afraid it won't stop before it's brought home in spades.

[not systems]

13. Echo here...

the answer may be any number. There is feedback
that makes people double down.

[MrPrax]

6. Boatloads...

The American people have no way to turn if off anyhow...why worry whether the toll hits 924 or 9240.

They're making a sacrafice for freedom, blah blah

[maggrwaggr]

7. As many as the media tells them to

Baaaaa-a-a-a-a-a--a-aaa!!!

(that's a sheep, by the way)

[Demonaut]

11. Wrong

I guessed about 60 two months ago,,,,,,waaay off...go to a site called "calendar of military war dead", very informative.

[Demonaut]

12. Should give a reason why

I as a naive web surfer who's time is mostly spent looking for free porn actually believed the wmd claim, I stll felt the war was wrong but i thought there's NO WAY Bush or Powell or Condi would lie to the American public, and as a British citizen i trult trusted Tony Blair....anyone have some swampland for sale??

[not systems]

15. An honest...

sucker is hard to find.

Welcome to DU stick around for awhile.

How is old Tony doing these days?

Much love from the people?

[Demonaut]

16. I live in the US now

But even my 87 year old Nan (grandmother)can't stand Tony nor Bush, My sister says the media is much more blunt and confrontational to elected officials, and when Bush gets to London he WILL see the war protesters, they wont be hidden two blocks away in a "free speech" zone. The Parlimentary members still have enough balls to stop the suppression of the truth.

[not systems]

17. That is good to hear...

the news on the WMD's have not been found front
has dryed up from there. It seemed for awhile
this summer that people there cared about Tony
lying about weapons ready to use in 30 minutes
ect...

I wish some news would break on that story soon.

[nomaco-10]

14. less than a thousand if

the network evening news would start showing streaming, unedited footage in vivid, living color of the troop casualties and the Iraqi civilian deaths. It worked in Viet Nam and would shorten this war as well. The American people don't have a stomach for such things, it ruins their dinner, but don't count on it, we're not even allowed to see the flag draped coffins coming off the planes, the wounded piling up in hospitals here and in Germany or even a tiny drop of blood. This is the tidiest little war I've ever seen.

[wickerwoman]

18. Sadly, I think we'll hear uproar about the amount of money

being spent to rebuild Iraq long before we hear uproar about casualties. The Bush administration is keeping the body count out of the news too successfuly, but I have heard a few pundits going off about $87 billion for Iraq and no jobs at home.
When a couple kids a month in their hometown are having funerals, people realize the cost of the war. The problem is that the casualty rate in Iraq will probably never hit that kind of frequency.

[dbt]

19. This time, the tipping point will be on the low end

With the First Viet Nam, there was about a day's worth of waiting for film and reports to get back to the US and to air. Granted, this was also back in the days of Journalism, a free press.

By Gulf War I, the public was treated to "Nintendo War." Someone locked a missile onto a target, the target vanished and the image was beamed from Baghdad to our living rooms. As successful as the Pentagon Filter was during Gulf I at telling just what Bush I wanted told, it accustomed the public to getting instant information.

This is the part that's going to give the current regime fits, especially after all its "cakewalk" talk was instantly splashed across the media. Americans are used to having our efficient machines strike the enemy down in short order. We watch 18 seconds on CNN and we feel good about ourselves.

This is the part that's going to work against bu$h. Given our expectation of Instant Results, two or three deaths a day will have the impact of two or three dozen deaths a day.

And, lame as the Major Media has become, there's that nasty little business of the Internet always pointing out what TV and Newspapers are leaving out.

:freak:
dbt

[onebigbadwulf]

20. Re: Terrorists

This is a case where you are damned if you do and damned if you don't

As said before, if we leave we will be considered a "toothless" lion and more terrorists will want to take advantage of us.


But if we stay and keep getting killed, it will rally the terrorists and they will continue to exploit our weaknesses. And every civilian or terrorist that we kill will breed more who hate us. Ala Vietnam.


No matter what we do now, we're going to be targetted for future deaths.

[opihimoimoi]

21. When 100 000 000 is reached, we will know we got suckered in

[IndianaGreen]

22. If Vietnam is a guide

A significant number of Americans will continue to support the failed war policies of the government, and blame antiwar Americans for giving "aid and comfort" to the "enemy."

Many will die for nothing!

[mandyky]

23. I don't think it is a sum total number

I think when we start losing 10 or more soldiers a day, that's when reality will start setting in. Then when idoy boy makes one of his "this shows we are making progress" type of statements ppeople will finally understand this regime could care less about regular people and have truly gone mad.

[jonoboy]

25. even Fox will turn

it occurred to me that the pathetic media lapdogs must turn at some stage just for their very survival. If they continue their support it will become increasingly boring and ratings drop. They need sensation to keep their viewers, just as they needed the Iraq war for a big boost.
I feel there is going to be a few more chopper style incidents that really hammer it home at which point just enough Conservatives and media start to turn..and from there a slight trickle begins leading to an avalanche.

then again I may just be dreaming.