From the tumbleweed towns of Texas to urban Houston and Galveston, from the Rust Belt to the Bible Belt, Americans have taken to the streets to protest.
Waving oversized Chinese-made American flags, wearing T-shirts with pictures of Donald Rumsfeld, and holding banners proclaiming, "Destroy Iraq, Save Civilization," they demand that America accept the "augmentation" of troops in Iraq.
"How can you call for continued war?" I asked one of their leaders.
"Because if we leave Iraq," said Thelma Lou Hodgkins of Whelping Falls, Mo., "we'll have stood down and the terrorists will win because we can't stand the Iraqis, so they'll either stand up or down. Or maybe sit. Or maybe they'd be lying down on the streets." Mercifully, I cut her off.
"Most Americans now say they were lied to by the Administration, that the war was wrong, that it has been poorly planned and abysmally executed."
"That's only the ones who have never been in Iraq. Or went to Iraq. Or knew someone who went to Iraq. The rest of us know better."
"More than 3,000 Americans and as many as 100,000 Iraqis, most of them innocent civilians, have died in this war. At least 20,000 American soldiers have been wounded, some crippled for life."
"So what's your point?" she asked. "Besides, we just can't cut and run like the defeatists want. There's still a war to win, and money to be taken by Halliburton and Exxon."
"The war profiteers have indeed gotten richer because of this war," I said, hoping she'd see my point.
"And that's how we keep the economy as good as it's been. More profit means more jobs and the right of every family to be able to shop at Wal-Mart."
"It also means more deaths."
"There you go with that death thing again," she said. "At least 5,000 soldiers haven't yet had any opportunity to win a medal?"
"Even if the medals are Purple Hearts?"
"Wounded. Dead. Helps their career. They get promoted. Makes for better survivor benefits."
"You're aware that only about 28 percent of all Americans even believe in this war?"
Walter Brasch is an award-winning journalist and university professor. His current books are America's Unpatriotic Acts: The Federal Government's Violation of Constitutional and Civil Rights, and 'Unacceptable': The Federal response to Hurricane Katrina, both available at amazon.com, borders.com and most major on-line bookstores.
