Thomas Friedman, until recently the New York Times Senior Iraq War Booster, used to always talk about the "tipping point" in Iraq,
e.g.
Iraq at the Tipping Point
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN (NYT)
Published: November 18, 2004
CAMP FALLUJA, Iraq - Every time I visit Iraq, I leave asking myself the same question: If you total up all the positives and negatives, where does the balance come out? I'd say the score is still 4 to 4. We can still emerge with a decent outcome. And the whole thing could still end very badly. There's only one thing one can say for sure today: you won't need to wait much longer for the tipping point.
Of course, it never tipped -- it just fell backward into a puddle of blood. But we may have reached another Iraq tipping point back home.
51% in Poll See No Link Between Iraq and Terror Fight
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 -- Americans increasingly see the war in Iraq as distinct from the fight against terrorism, and nearly half believe President Bush has focused too much on Iraq to the exclusion of other threats, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The finding that 51 percent of those surveyed see no link between the war in Iraq and the broader anti-terror effort was a jump of 10 percentage points since June. It came despite the regular insistence of Mr. Bush and Congressional Republicans that the two are intertwined and should be seen as complementary elements of an overall strategy to prevent domestic terror attacks.
NY Times/CBS Poll 8/17-21/06:
19. Do you think of the war with Iraq as part of the war on terrorism, or do you think of it as separate from the war on terrorism? IF ANSWERED "PART OF WAR ON TERRORISM", ASK: Is it a major part of the war on terrorism, or a minor part of the war on terrorism?
Major Part: 32
Minor Part: 12
Not Part : 51
DK/NA : 5
The "Iraq is the central front in the war on terror" has been one of the Bushco lies justifying the carnage. It is possible, just possible, that a majority of the American people are beginning to understand that the Iraq War is to the so-called war on terror what Ann Coulter is to public discourse -- a senseless waste having no redeeming value.
So, lets tally them up:
WMDs -- nope
Terrorist connections -- nope
Democracy -- not in any recognizable form
Front on the war on terror--nope
What we are left with is the same thing a heart transplant surgeon is left with when he drops the good heart on the floor and accidentally steps on it. A dead patient, a hell of a mess and the assertion that if the doctor leaves now, something really bad will happen.
