Iraq: The Separate Realities of Republicans and Democrats

Abstract

The war with Iraq, now three years on, will surely be regarded by historians as one of the more unusual wars in history. The stated premise for going to war—Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and support for al-Qaeda—was unfounded, a number of US government commissions have concluded. However, other government leaders have made statements that leave ambiguities on what was in fact the case. Not surprisingly, over the years a number of studies have found that there have been widespread differences among Americans, not only in their attitudes about the war, but also their perceptions of what were, in fact, the realities surrounding it, including the premises for going to war.