Salon Magazine published a review article yesterday comparing and contrasting beliefs in America:
34% of Americans believe in UFOs and Ghosts
An Associated Press/Ipsos Poll taken on 8/22/05 reports these American beliefs:
53% believe the United States made a mistake in starting the Iraq war
50% believe the military action in Iraq has increased the threat of world terrorism
20% strongly approve the War
11% believe a stable, democratic government will be established in Iraq
Now we need to examine these statistics and figure out how many UFO/Ghosts believers think the Iraq war is winnable.

16 Comments

  2. Hi Keeler F. —
    It’s nice to hear from you again.
    I agree that numbers can be flipped and compared to reveal many different angles. That’s what’s so great about statistics! 🙂

  3. LOL Tks for the laugh, but I wonder now how many of those polled who believed in the UFOs/ghosts actually lived near area 51. That might give the poll more weight if they did 🙂

  5. Why is it that people have lost faith in the men and women who are serving in the war in Iraq? Being over here, I dont see how we are “losing” this war. Yes, we have lost over 1800 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in the last 4 years, but how many insurgents have we eliminated? How many insurgents have been capture, detained, jailed, or killed by the newly formed Iraqi Army? I have worked hand in hand with these brave people and believe me, they are up to the task of cleaning up the insurgency in their country. Not only is this war “winnable”, we are winning this war on many levels which never make it to the media because good news doesnt sell. I wish the public would not give up on the men and women who are serving this great nation. You may not agree or like the president, but dont lose faith in the military.

  6. Hello SGT Capozzi —
    Thank you for your thoughtful and well-reasoned message.
    There is nothing in my post or in the statistics I quote that claims the “people have lost faith in the men and women who are serving in the war in Iraq” as you mention because we are able to intellectually separate our feelings from those who serve at the whim of a president and those who chose to send you over there.
    I believe America supports the troops, but the decision to send you there in the first place is what is losing favor.
    In the AP-Ipsos Poll I mention it also claims 60% of believe troops should stay in Iraq until the situation and stabilized and 87% percent think it is “okay for people who oppose the war to express their opposition publicly.”
    That interesting conflict in staying while speaking out is precisely the core of the problem: We support you but that doesn’t mean we have to be quiet about getting you out of there.

  7. A lot of the victory will be determined on how we define victory.
    Is removing a brutal dictator who financed suicide bombers in Israel a victory?
    Is having the first free election in Iraq in many years a victory?
    Is allowing people to write their own constitution a victory?
    If we want to keep a score card on violence and deaths, we can look to many major U.S. cities. The large city just a few miles from where I live has had less than 40 murders so far this year. That’s a victory compared to a few years back when the murders were in the triple digits.
    If we added up all of the murders in major cities a few years back, they probably would be close or exceed to the number of U.S. personal killed in Iraq in combat and non-combat situations. I wonder if anyone has done the research.
    We didn’t give up when things were bad in my area. Despite much negative press about the area’s murder rate, people pulled together to do the hard work needed to fix some of the problems. Things don’t get better overnight, but when there is a will, miracles can happen. Sometimes there are losses in the battle. It’s the nature of the beast.
    Things will get better in Iraq, just as they are getting better in our inner cities.
    Just as a doctor may have to prescribe harsh and extremely uncomfortable chemotherapy to cure cancer, the same is true for solving a murder problem or the Iraq insurgency.
    It isn’t pleasant to cure cancer, but the cost of doing nothing or giving up is too high a price to pay.
    We’ve gone into Iraq. We can’t change that fact by complaining.
    We need to finish the job the right way.
    I have faith in our military personnel and know they will preform their assigned duties to the best of their abilities.
    We’ve won many victories in Iraq. We removed Saddam. We freed a people to vote and to write their constitution.
    Great things will happen.
    We just need to be patient while the work is being done. And, don’t give up hope.
    Chris
    Deliberate Chaos

  10. David,
    Although I do not believe in UFOs and Ghosts, I do believe that we will win the war in Iraq and that we will in turn change the whole middle east.
    It is already happening, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia says that he sees democratic elections in Saudi Arabia within 15 years. The House of Saud would have never said that if the idea was not there.
    What Iraq does much more than anything else is give people hope. Hope is a message much more powerful than guns and bombs. If you don’t believe that is what is happening here, I don’t know how to convince you about what I see in the eyes of the children that I see and the Iraqi farmers and tradesmen that I work with.
    Of course you won’t see that in the media, even the AP has said they don’t venture out much. So I’m not sure of the comparison, but the American people can be assured that we are going to win, whether they believe it or not.
    Kev

  12. On a lighter note, a couple of years ago, my husband and I were coming back from Hilton Head Island in SC – absolutely LOVELY place if you’ve never been – and we stopped at one of those convenience stations with a McDonald’s attached to it so we could eat lunch.
    When we came to a stop at the station’s exit to pull back out on the road, there in front of us on a dingy, grayed piece of wood was a sign with a hand-painted illustration of someone’s idea of a flying saucer with an arrow pointing to the right and the words “UFO Welcome Center 5 Miles” written below the “spaceship.”
    I had to pull out the camera. I came across the picture I took tonight as I was looking for pictures from our New Orleans trip from a few years before that.
    My husband wanted to go see the site, but I really wanted to get home. Yeah, I’m a party pooper. 🙂

  14. This is response to the person who wrote item #12-
    It could have been a room at the McDonald’s made up to look like a room on the spaceship- you really can’t be too sure about that these days.
    Every now and then you’ll meet a nice one, E.T., or Star Man, but MOST of the time they’ll turn out to be nothing but a BIG UGLY SMELLY LIZARD.

  15. Oh no, it’s a sign – a large sign – on the side of the road across from the McDonald’s, and I’m pretty sure it’s not anything the restaurant is associated with.
    I see I am going to have to scan that picture and send it to you David! 🙂

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