Shouts and Support
Protests and surging polls reflect two views of the war
Vox populi. Yet according to three post-invasion polls, a majority of Americans quietly approved of President Bush's actions. An ABC- Washington Post poll placed Bush's approval rating at 67 percent; a CBS- New York Times poll said 62 percent of Americans thought the United States did the right thing in invading Iraq; and a CNN- USA Today -Gallup poll found that 70 percent of Americans thought the nation took military action at the right time.
Influencing public reaction, perhaps, was the ability of Bush to link Saddam Hussein to terrorism, especially of the September 11 variety. In his address to the nation from the Oval Office, Bush said: "The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of firefighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities."
Still, in Tucson, Ariz., while the war dominated daily discussion, the threat of terrorism seemed far away. "I'm not worried at all," says Joe Davey, 38, a financial planner, who, with his wife, Julie, has two young children. "I would be a bit more concerned about terrorists if I were in Washington or New York. It's a good time to be a Tucsonan." A strong supporter of the war, Davey hung an American flag from his carport the day Bush gave Saddam a 48-hour deadline to leave Iraq. "After this war, I think you're going to see the populations in Middle Eastern countries turning on the terrorists' networks," he says.
Blanca Villa, 49, works for Cochise County in the town of Bisbee, Ariz., 4 miles from the border with Mexico. She has two cousins who were sent to Kuwait, one a reservist who was called up and the other in the regular Army. "I'm sure President Bush is seeing the real problem; I believe him," she says. "But I just think . . . maybe he should . . . I don't know if this war is absolutely necessary. I can't say we couldn't have had more negotiations."
She also worries about the strain on U.S.-Mexican relations because of Mexico's reluctance to join Bush's "coalition of the willing." "I know Mexico is a peaceful country, and I understand their position," says Villa, who was born in Mexico and became a U.S. citizen as a child. "But I really think Mexico should be standing by the U.S. at this point."
Near the other border, the airstrikes on Baghdad dampened Vermonters' excitement over the University of Vermont Catamounts' first-ever participation in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. And it edged out the frustration of the 2,400 maple sugar makers as they waited for daytime temperatures to reach the upper 30s, allowing the sap to run and sugaring to begin in earnest for the estimated annual production of some 500,000 gallons of maple syrup.
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