[Owen]

>>
This has happened before (February a couple of years ago for instance) and can be attributed to a variety of things.
>>

No. February 2004 was a single month. Look closely at the sequence from October 2005, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, and now March. This is not a February 2004 down spike. This is a trend.

[Tuxedo]

Ovrall, Iraq has been somewhat of a disappointment for the Administration - I know they see it as a great victory, but they have lost most of the American people on this issue. The communications area has been stymied by the mainstream press and seems quite clueless on what to do about it. Fox News and Rush only get you so far. While we are so much farther along than we were in the last serious conflict - Vietnam, the same forces that undermined our efforts here at home are back at work again - pop culture, media, and the loony liberals.

The Iraq War seemed the right thing to do when it was begun, but I really question the WH reaction to things once the Iraqi Hussein Regime fell - they seemed shocked at the unrest that followed and I think they also underestimated the forces in the Middle East that will not allow Iraq to be an American Success Story no matter what. There is no exit strategy because, until Iran, Syria, and Palestine are cowed, there will be no exiting the region. We started this foray into the area, now we either finish the job, or we will be ultimately defeated. Only with the will of the American people firmly behind our CIC and our boys and girls in uniform can we prevail. That support is falling off - and is doing so by design of those who want to see their own visions of revolution become reality.