![\"last](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/last-convoy-out-of-Iraq.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nChief Tango sends us a link to the Associated Press<\/a> which uses polling for justification for airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, ahead of the President’s loooonnnnngggg awaited strategy in the against the Islamic Caliphate;<\/p>\n In a shift for a war-weary nation, new polls suggest the American people would support a sustained air campaign. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Monday showed 71 percent of Americans support airstrikes in Iraq, up from 54 percent just three weeks ago. And 65 percent say they support extending airstrikes into Syria.<\/p>\n Taking that latter step would raise legal and geopolitical issues that Obama has long sought to avoid, particularly without formal congressional authorization.<\/p>\n Unlike in Iraq, Obama would not be acting at the invitation of a host government. However, some international law experts say airstrikes could be justified as a matter of self-defense if Obama argues the Islamic State poses a threat to the U.S. and its allies from inside Syria, whose government is unwilling or unable to stop it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n We’ve been discussing over the last several years how there is a disconnect between the people who fight wars and the people who take polls. We’ve also been talking the last few months how Americans are war-weary. They’re not really weary of war, they’re weary of the thoughts of casualties intruding into their completely comfortable lives. Standing off from the targets by a few thousand feet or by a few thousand miles is totally attractive.<\/p>\n But I remember the video of airstrikes against Serbia when a train full of passengers flashed on the gun camera right before the bomb struck a trestle and public opinion waned within moments after that was shown on CNN. Americans are fickle, which is why they conduct these polls every day.<\/p>\n The thing is, a leader ignores the polling and convinces the public to see things his way, not the other way around. Like I said earlier today, the only reason that Obama is going to Congress for approval is so he can share blame if it all goes to shit.<\/p>\n I don’t remember what polling said about our last entry into an Iraq War, do you? So I looked at Gallup’s archives<\/a> for February 28, 2003;<\/p>\n A new CNN\/USA Today\/Gallup Poll shows 59% of Americans in favor of invading Iraq with ground troops in an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power. That level of support is unchanged from last week, and down slightly from the 63% found shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s U.N. speech arguing for military action against Iraq. In general, the percentage of supporters has changed little over the last five months.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How about if we take a look at September 10th, 2010<\/a>, just a few years ago;<\/p>\n Nine years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, 1% of Americans mention terrorism as the most important problem facing the country, down from 46% just after the attacks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n