The wars have mostly vanished from the headlines. Lots of people are still getting killed and maimed, displaced too. Yet because the violence has apparently lessened because of the surge, the wars are no longer front page news.
The presidential election campaigns are also surely a reason, as campaign news is becoming all-consuming, destroying any other news in the vicinity, an unfortunate trend that will surely worsen. The ANSWER Coalition plans an antiwar rallies in DC and elsewhere on March 15, the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, but by then too many progressives and liberals may be primarily focused on the presidential campaigns, with little interest or energy left for other issues. Let’s hope not.
Also, within a few months, the economy will become the primary issue, and that’ll distract even more from the wars. Not that the economy shouldn’t be a central issue, because it should, but if the wars fade from public view, then that means more dead people, and we’ve already had way too many.
The wars are one big reason why the economy will take center stage– they’ve been fought entirely on credit. I wonder why people don’t make the connection that inflation is up and the credit market is in tatters largely because the federal government– already the largest debtor in the world before Bush took office– has doubled its demand for credit. m What did they think was going to happen? In a supply-and-demand market, more demand raises the price and reduces the available supply.
Oh, wait, the Bushies aren’t real capitalists though– they think the rules don’t apply to them.