The Downing Street memo hasn't led to massive public protests. There's no palpable sense of outrage that the rush to war was all a big "fix." (beyond Kos of course). Why?
Most here blame the media. Personally, I think it's because most people were too busy watching the last episode of The Bachelor to worry about a smoking gun, or a pack of lies.
But Juan Cole, more sensible than most, thinks it's because people still dream they're safer thanks to W.'s buffoonery in Iraq.
Why has there not been more outrage in the United States at these revelations? Many Americans may have chosen to overlook the lies and deceptions the Bush administration used to justify the war because they still believe the Iraq war might have made them at least somewhat safer.
http://www.salon.com/
The good news, according to Cole, is that this dream-like state will change. He thinks we'll eventually wake up.
Here's Cole again:
When they realize that this hope, too, is unfounded, and that in fact the war has greatly increased the threat of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, their wrath may be visited on the president and the political party that has brought America the biggest foreign-policy disaster since Vietnam.
http://www.salon.com/
Cole may be right, but if so, why haven't our fellow Americans smelled the coffee yet? It's abundantly clear that Bush is running an insurgent recruitment program in Iraq, and yet, opposition to the war is on a very very slow boil. Many people simply refuse to admit that smacking Iraq around has made us less safe.
So maybe the bigger problem is a failure to focus on economics. Most people make no connection between Bush's lies, and our economic interests.
But there is a connection as today's Council on Foreign Relations report on how Bush has changed attitudes towards the US in the Muslim world makes clear:
Previously the image of the U.S. was good, but since Bush took office and declared war, we see it as arrogant and we hate it. (older Indonesian woman)
Before, we used to dream about visiting the U.S. and we liked its products. Now we no longer have that desire. Our view of the U.S. has changed for the worse. (young Moroccan woman)
It was like a dream, now it's a nightmare. (older Egyptian woman)
From a just-released Council of Foreign Relations Special Report: http://www.cfr.org/
Growing anti-US feeling is also turning into hatred toward American products. In other words, the Bush Administration is costing you money and jobs. Really. Bill Gates, and you.
We may never see massive protests. But people are eventually going to figure out that the Bush administration's neo-Colonial experiment is hurting America-- not just in making us less secure. It is also hurting us financially. Once that recognition sinks in, I expect they'll be a bigger movement for regime change here at home.
The question is, can the anti-war movement tap into this concern sooner rather than later?