Young Hawks

If young people are supposedly more idealistic, then idealism has nothing to do with pacifism. People in their twenties, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll, approve of the Iraq War more than their grandparents. And more youth approve of the invasion than disapprove. Janet Elder writes:

Forty-eight percent of Americans 18 to 29 years old said the United States did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq, while 45 percent said the United States should have stayed out. That is in sharp contrast to the opinions of those 65 and older, who have lived through many other wars. Twenty eight percent of that age group said the United States did the right thing, while 67 percent said the United States should have stayed out."....

"I think old people tend to want to solve things more diplomatically than younger, more gung ho types," said Mary Jackson, 28, a homemaker from Brewton, Alabama. "Younger people are more combative."

Younger people are also more optimistic. Forty-nine percent of them said the United States was either very likely or somewhat likely to succeed in Iraq, while only 34 percent of older people said the same thing.

For a more realistic young idealist, meet Ava Lowery, the Southern homeschooler whose antiwar videos get 30,000 hits a day.

Comments

There is too much violence in the media and video games. The young people were brainwashed with all this violence and hence the support for war. They make good soldiers for our empire.

Posted by: BillyBob on 04/19/07 at 2:19 PM Respond

Yep, it's true. Not all young people are dumb power crystal, pot smoking hippies- not that I have anything against that. I fit into that age group and even though I opposed the whole Iraq thing from the beginning, I fear seeing what will happen in that country after the US leaves. The bombings and violence are horrible with us there. If the US leaves, that is not going to stop violence but it will be an all out civil war. I think Democrats should consider this more closely. It's going to be ugly when we leave. While I think the Iranian leadership are punks, we should take a diplomatic approach.

Posted by: Barth on 04/19/07 at 2:22 PM Respond

A good reason for you liberals to support the war, actually. It’s time to start embarrassing those “young hawks” to enlist. Have them PROVE to Jesus they’re TRUE patriots and Republicans!

Posted by: John on 04/19/07 at 2:29 PM Respond

I guess it's a subject for further research, but I'm almost sure I've seen other polls showing the opposite, that younger people are less likely than their elders to support the war.

Posted by: Eric Ferguson on 04/19/07 at 2:42 PM Respond

Yes I would be very curious to see where this data was collected from. As a 25 year old I think I can say with some certainty that the age group of 18-20 year olds represents that of the country. If you ask the question about the war in Alabama or Nebraska you get a high percentage of ill-informed and Republicans supporting bush and the war.

However I live in California and I personally do not know a single person under the age of 30 who supported or supports the war so I find these numbers either flat wrong or from a base of people in a far to rural area.

Ben

Posted by: Ben Holland on 04/19/07 at 4:40 PM Respond

In California, some gangsters join the military to gang bang in Iraq and get paid for it. They get to put their tags in Bagdad. They get paid for doing things that would land them in jail here. They also learn good military tactics to employ when they get back here against the Crips and Bloods.

Posted by: Hector the trader on 04/19/07 at 5:30 PM Respond

barth I'd like to know where you come up with your convictions. Remember, it was the presence of our troops in Iraq that unleashed the current violence. How can you be so sure that our leaving would make it worse, especially when our continued presence seems to be making it worse. You seem to be just mouthing the administrations lines. But remember, the people who keep stressing that Iraq would fall apart if we left have a *very* poor record for being right. In fact, based on their record of the past 6 years, I would tend to believe the opposite of what they say to be closer to the truth.

Posted by: DaveD on 04/20/07 at 5:11 AM Respond