PRESIDENT George W. Bush is watching public support haemmorrhage for his handling of Iraq, and the bleeding seems especially acute in Ohio, the state that sent him back to the White House.
Bush, currently vacationing on his Texas ranch, "is losing not just people who were opposed to the war, but people who would have wanted to support him," Kay said. "He ought to get out of Texas and up to Ohio, and explain to people what is going on."
The president on Thursday expressed sympathy for the Ohio marines killed in a deadly week for US forces in Iraq, saying their sacrifice was for a noble cause.
Some 193 kilometres north of Delaware, the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park, where the 15 dead marines were headquartered, battled to cope. Residents paid homage at a makeshift memorial of US flags, teddy bears, flowers and cards.
"I don't agree that we needed to be in Iraq," said Vietnam veteran Greg Roberson, whose son Chris serves in the same division as the dead Marines."We were told there were WMDs there -- I feel we have been BS'd." At least two dozen people interviewed at random last week in Cleveland expressed similar feelings. Only a few said they were satisfied with the course of the war.
Anger is also evident in staunchly Republican Cincinnati, in Ohio's south.A web chat set up for Cincinnati Enquirer readers to remember fallen marines turned into an online protest, with messages critical of the war outnumbering those in support. "A war begun on lies will cause deep divisions at home," wrote one reader, Robbie Smith, of Hamilton, Ohio.Another, Kathleen Murray, of Blue Ash wrote : "How many more of your children will you have to lose to a senseless war based on lies?"
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