Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“It used to be so much easier to sell a war of choice. Bill Clinton mobilized troops for NATO’s mission to bomb Yugoslavia, and around three in five Americans approved. George W. Bush announced Operation Iraqi Freedom; more than 70% of adults went along with it. Americans were war-wearier in 2011, after electing the only presidential candidate who’d promised to get out of Iraq. But half of them heard Barack Obama endorse a no-fly zone over Libya and said: Why not? Operation Epic Fury doesn’t get that benefit of the doubt. If you’re old enough to remember the Iraq War build-up, a year-long sales job that it became ‘unpatriotic’ to question, the lack of any real presidential persuasion effort has been surreal.” (03/04/26)