Andrew Kohut War Quotations

What will help President Bush on the war in Iraq is for things to improve on the ground. But barring that, I think he's probably well served to appear to be hearing about the critics and not appear to be out of touch and in a bubble.

Rebuilding power stations doesn't offset people's concerns about so much violence and the possibility for civil war as time goes by. The slaughter of one Iraqi by another Iraqi is just head-turning.

I think he is the point man for the discontent with the Bush administration. There are many people who associate him with Bush policies, notably the war in Iraq, that they are very unhappy with.

The overall finding of public opinion since the September 11 attacks is that the American public is willing to see the rules bent a little bit in the war on terrorism.

Attitudes are a little more complicated than thumbs up or thumbs down. Americans do care about Iraq, but it doesn't have the personal impact that the war in Vietnam had. Secondly, this is a more patriotic time. Even though the public is disillusioned with the war in Iraq, it tends to support the concept of preemptive war at a time when most people feel we're at risk.