At what point will the U.S. public quit ACCEPTING the U.S. deaths in Iraq?

[begin_within]

I for one can't believe that, for the most part, the American public just accepts it. They hear it on the radio, see it on the TV, read it in the paper or magazines, and just accept it and go on to the next story or the next bite of their sandwich or the next task at hand. I know there are protests and bloggers railing against it, but for the most part, I don't see huge numbers of people even talking about it at all! When was the last time someone talked to you in person about the U.S. body count in Iraq? I personally feel outrage about it and I just can't believe that American citizens don't appear to be outraged! What will it take for really massive numbers of people to become outraged about it? How many deaths will it take?

[Zuni]

1. The backlash has begun

polls keep showing that the majority of the public do not approve of the President's performance in Iraq
the majority want to pull out ASAP

[Not_Giving_Up]

2. Iran will be the final straw for a lot of people

Or North Korea...whichever one the administration makes the most funny faces at first.

[Scooter24]

3. I think

that at every 1000 marker, we start to see public opinion on this war break down considerably.

I think that at 10000, we will be at national crisis mode. We would only see those numbers if we take on another war though.

[donheld]

4. At what point will the U.S. public quit ACCEPTING the Bushie Lies?

Bush Lied People are Dying, the economy is going to hell. The entire constitution is going by the wayside. Seems like too few care.

[fortyfeetunder]

5. They need to see "Last Letters Home"

This was the HBO documentary profiling families of military personnel killed in Iraq. I was pissed before I saw the documentary, so I am not much happier now that I saw this.

Ho/4.0n a country ignore this pain?

[TheFarseer]

6. It's not good news anymore

Unless a chopper goes down with 20 marines on board or something, it's just a quick blurb on the TV. If one more American gets killed by a roadside bomb, what's the difference if 1,444 or 1,445 soldiers come home in a body bag? - as long as you don't know #1,445. I heard someone say the other day, "Just think if they were all back here, probably just as many of them would be getting killed in traffic accidents."

[Crunchy Frog]

7. I don't know.

I honestly did not expect that the American public would have this high a tolerance for U.S. military fatalities in this war. They continously surprise me by what they seem willing to put up with.

Maybe it will only be when the war expands and the draft is reinstated. Maybe there is literally nothing that the Bushies can do to get a rise out the American people at this point.

[Not_Giving_Up]

8. You have to consider that a large number of Americans

has no clue as to how many have been lost.

Some hear about 1 or 5 here and there, it doesn't sound that bad to them (as long as they don't personally know a deployed soldier).

There is also that large group who don't watch the news, beyond a quick blurb of their local news for weather/traffic/sports in the morning. They don't read the newspapers. News depresses them, so they avoid it. They might know that it's bad, but they don't know HOW bad.

America needs to wake up. It's starting, eyes are opening, and once the eyes are opened, the mouth spreads the information.

[NYC]

9. I think they'll accept for years, if it goes on for years.

I don't think it matters how many are dead. I think it matters who they are.

When dying is spread out across the board, so that all American families are susceptible, then we will hear complaints. Not before.

[Rockerdem]

11. The whore media always prints stories to "put it in perspective"

Each month, some outlet writes a piece that makes specious parallels. Last month it was the fact that 1400+ babyboomers alone die each year on Harleys. And of course the omnipresent 120 Americans each day in car wrecks. They always try to dwarf the troop loss and they can be quite creative.

[NYC]

12. That is specious.

Also, dead is dead. Though fewer troops may have died than Harley accident victims, they are still dead. I'm sure their friends and relatives are not comforted by comparisons.

[LynnTheDem]

14. They DON'T put into perspective ONLY 2800 Americans dead on 911.

Yet half that amount again of Americans are dead from bush's bullshit war of aggression on Iraq. Which had nothing whatsoever to do with 1) 911, 2) al Qaeda, 3) WMD.

If rightwingnuts want to trivialize & marginalize our uniformed American men, women & teens' deaths, then they should also be trivializing and marginalizing the American men, women & teens' deaths on September 11, 2001.

[Hardrada]

15. And then there are the impossible people who say

that no matter if xxxxxxxxxxxxx number of people get killed in a war, the numbers for abortion are always worse. How do you counteract that kind of thinking?

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. At 50,000.

That's what it took to stop Vietnam.

[Not_Giving_Up]

13. I SO hope that you are wrong about that

Surely the American people will not stand for 50,000 dead in this mess.