For the past week, Sheehan and the peace activists she galvanized have
grabbed headlines and TV news coverage.
But her visibility has spurred an intense backlash on the right,
igniting conservative talk radio, inspiring counterprotests, and
fueling the Bush administration's determination to reverse public
opinion.
Scores of Iraqis are killed each week in insurgent violence -- attacks
administration officials had hoped would abate as the country's
democratic process moved forward.
According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in early August, 54
percent of Americans surveyed thought the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a
mistake.
By contrast, opposition to the Vietnam War crossed the 50 percent mark
in 1968 and rose to 60 percent by 1973, the same year the US withdrew
its troops, according to the Gallup Poll.
Conservatives supporting military operations in Iraq plan a five-day
tour of Western cities that will end Saturday in Crawford, where about
2,000 antiwar protesters have gathered.
From The Boston Globe, 8/23/05:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/23/pr_blitz_counters_antiwar_protest/
PR blitz counters antiwar protest
White House, military kin launch effort
By Nina J. Easton and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON --
Facing sagging public opinion polls and an increasingly spirited
antiwar movement, the Bush administration and its allies this week
launched a broad public relations offensive, with a presidential
defense of the war -- including an acknowledgment of the conflict's
mounting death toll -- and a caravan of supportive military families
carrying their message to the Bush ranch in Texas.
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Harry
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