Now that the war is practically over, British voters have suddenly decided it was a good idea after all. Support for the war among British voters has surged to a new record level of 63%, according to results of a poll taken this week by the British newspaper The Guardian. Here at home, the success of the war has strengthened President George Bush's approval rating, according to a New York Times/CBS poll. Still, a majority of U.S. voters remain opposed to a policy of pre-emptive attack, and fear that the White House might turn the nation's military might on North Korea, Syria or Iran in the future.
Impressions
Reporters talking to the people who live in Saddam's home town of Tikrit are coming back with a variety of impressions.
A Canadian journalist finds Iraqis visiting Saddam's palaces and marveling over the riches. A British reporter finds some Tikrit residents who are fed up with American troops. But a Los Angeles Times reporter finds Tikrit residents who say they harbor no special love for Saddam.
In Baghdad, a Boston Globe reporter talks to disenfranchised Shia Muslims, who will probably hold one of the keys to preventing Baghdad from erupting into civil war.
And there was never any popular military uprising in Basra, Iraqis living there say. "They described a city that functioned relatively normally until the British entered -- and many said the main fear was of artillery and airstrikes," the Washington Post reported.
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