Poll: Public Supports Bombing Iran

Jodie Allen at Pew Research has an interesting new report:

Yet even as enthusiasm for American involvement in Afghanistan has faded, the public has assumed a warlike stance on another front: Iran. In an October Pew Research survey, a substantial 61%-majority of Americans say that it is more important to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if it means taking military action. Far fewer (24%) say it is more important to avoid a military conflict with Iran, if it means that the country may acquire nuclear capability.

Especially after Iraq, the public's willingness to countenance a war with Iran surprises me. Of course, deficit spending goes a long way toward disguising those costs. It's hard to have a debate about the course of American foreign policy if Washington defers the actual costs of its action to future generations. And there is more than just the debt-load they'll inherit. There are geopolitical consequences to taking military action that aren't always clear at the beginning of the fight, but which rear their head many years later nonetheless.

Afghanistan itself is an excellent case in point. Secretary Gates recently noted how ironic it was that the U.S. is fighting some of the very Taliban figures that he "shoveled arms" to during the Afghan civil war. Indeed, it is ironic. But it's useful too - it should serve as a reminder that when Washington tries to direct the course of societies other than its own, the full cost and consequences of such actions won't be readily apparent at the time. But they will be real nonetheless.

(AP Photos)