Reply #23: If you're waiting for a toll-free antiwar number. . .

[Journeyman]

you're in for a lifetime of disappointment. And just because people don't believe something is going to happen doesn't mean they don't want it to happen. It's why I included my example: I support and participate in antiwar causes and events, and have for many years, but I don't expect any substantial changes to happen with US forces in Iraq in the next 12 months or more. Do I have doubts that the anti-war movement exists? No. But I don't expect an upwelling of anti-war activity, either, even in light of the changing opinion polls.

There will be pressure exerted to change the situation in Iraq, mostly directed at our Congresscritters and through the business community, but absent some unforseeable catalytic spark, I don't believe there will be an appreciable change in the anti-war movement over the next 12 months.

So unlike the situation around the Vietnam fiasco, I believe the anti-war effort will be more akin to that seen during the Korean conflict (which was a far more unpopular war than Vietnam) -- low-key but inexorable pressure. I hope I'm wrong. But if asked in a poll such as we're discussing here, I would honestly answer that I don't expect any major change in the next year. It's the reality of the politics, at least so far as I see them.