Vietnam, Iraq, and Public Opinion

Vietnam long has been the gold standard for unpopular wars, but evidently no more. A new Gallup poll suggests Americans soured on the Iraq War even faster than they did with the Southeast Asian conflict of the 1960s. The new poll compared the two wars at identical points—after two and a half years of combat. At that point in the Vietnam War—early 1967—41 percent of Americans had decided sending troops was a mistake. The figure at the comparable point in the Iraq War? Fully 50 percent, said Gallup.