...spinning in his grave.

The small scale of the protests of the invasion of Iraq, on its third anniversary put me in mind of this [1] polling done by the Gallup organization, which I ran across yesterday. Basically the polling indicates that by any reasonable historical standard the war on Iraq has had very little direct, concrete impact on the lives of everyday Americans.

It wasn't supposed to be that way. In the aftermath of the Vietnam war Max Taylor and a group of folks in the highest echelons of command restructured the American Army such that it would be impossible to have a major war, contrary to what happened in Vietnam, without mobilizing the National Guard. The thinking was that this would increase the political stakes of going to war and ensure that future administrations couldn't slide the country into war without anyone noticing, using only the regular Army. I don't know why this hasn't worked - I'm guessing that it has to do with the fact that the Army cross-cuts class dynamics less than it used to, but I do find the polling figures (after the jump) disturbing.

Some salient points from the release:

When asked how the war in Iraq has affected their personal lives, Americans are nearly three times more likely to say it has had a negative (39%) rather than a positive (14%) effect. However, the plurality of Americans, 45%, say it has not had much effect.

In April 2003, Americans were more likely to say the war had had a positive effect (37%) on their lives than to say it had had a negative effect (16%). In October 2003 and January 2004, Americans were more divided on the impact of the war. In each of the four polls, though, at least a plurality of Americans have said the war has not had much effect on them."

[snip]

A slight majority of Democrats, 52%, say the war has negatively affected their personal lives; 8% say it has had a positive effect, while 39% say it has not had much effect. Fifty-three percent of Republicans say the war has not had much impact on their lives, with the rest divided as to whether the war has positively (24%) or negatively (22%) affected them.

War Activities at Home

The poll also assessed what war-related activities Americans have participated in since the war began. Eighty-seven percent report that they have prayed for those affected by the war since it began. Roughly half say they have displayed a yellow ribbon on their car or property to show support for the troops, and about the same number have cried because of something related to the war.

Fewer than half of Americans say they have sent letters, e-mails, or care packages to U.S. troops in Iraq (43%), or have voted for or against a political candidate because of their own views on the war (36%).

Few Americans report having attended a funeral or memorial service for Americans who died in Iraq (17%), or that they have publicly opposed (13%) or supported (11%) the war by participating in a demonstration or writing to a public official."

Prayers are nice and all, but really I don't find that all that compelling as evidence that the public is even cognizant of what's going on. When the level of engagement, for or against, is this low (i.e., about a tenth on either end of the issue [and I'm guessing that's a big overestimate of actual engagement], it's pretty disturbing. And people wonder why there's such a thing as a professional military caste that frequently doesn't think too highly of the civilians...