U.S. Foreign Policy and the Iraq War: Public Opinion
This paper explores the Iraq War's impact on U.S. foreign policy and American public opinion from 2003 through the end of the George W. Bush administration. It analyzes the ethical dilemma Americans faced in supporting or opposing the war, the concept of U.S. exceptionalism and humanitarian intervention, and how partisan divisions shaped responses to the conflict. The paper also examines the role of religion — particularly Evangelical Christianity and Judaism — in influencing public support for the war, and considers how the 2004 presidential election reflected voter attitudes toward the war on terrorism and the Iraq campaign specifically.
- Introduction: The Iraq War and American Public Opinion: Context of the war and initial public response
- Humanitarian Intervention and U.S. Exceptionalism: Ethical basis and exceptionalism theory applied to Iraq
- U.S. Foreign Policy Before and During the Iraq War: Historical foreign policy traditions and Bush-era shifts
- The 2004 Election and Public Support for the War: How terrorism and Iraq shaped the 2004 vote
- Partisan Divisions Over the Iraq War: Republican and Democrat disagreements on war and diplomacy
- Religion and Public Opinion on the Iraq War: Role of Evangelical Christians and Jewish Americans
- Conclusion: Legacy of Iraq War debate and Obama transition
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What makes this paper effective
- It synthesizes multiple academic sources to build a layered argument, connecting electoral politics, foreign policy theory, ethics, and religious influence into a coherent analysis of the Iraq War debate.
- The paper draws on concrete evidence — such as the 94% of "just war" voters who chose Bush in 2004 — to ground abstract claims about public opinion.
- It acknowledges complexity and counterarguments throughout, such as noting that Democratic and Republican behaviors often defied their expected historical roles.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of comparative framing: it consistently places the Iraq War in dialogue with earlier U.S. interventions (Kosovo, Somalia, Rwanda, the Cold War) and with competing ideological traditions (liberalism vs. realism in foreign policy). This historical contextualization strengthens the analytical claims without requiring original research.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with the ethical and political context of the Iraq War, then moves through humanitarian intervention theory and U.S. exceptionalism, before addressing foreign policy history and the 2004 election dynamics. It then examines partisan divisions and concludes with a focused section on religious influence — particularly Evangelical and Jewish communities — before a brief concluding reflection on the Obama transition. Each section builds logically on the previous one.
Introduction: The Iraq War and American Public Opinion
The Iraq War is one of the most controversial conflicts undertaken by the United States, given that the country's policy regarding the war was at times confusing. While President George W. Bush constantly pressed his case urging his countrymen to join a presumably just cause, the general public slowly but surely began to disapprove of the war. U.S. citizens engaged in debates on the topic of the war in Iraq throughout most of the George W. Bush administration and generated a series of political and idealistic convictions. It is uncertain whether the masses initially appreciated the actions initiated on March 20, 2003, but considering that the 2004 elections brought more votes for George W. Bush, it would seem that the majority of U.S. citizens were determined to support him in fighting the Iraq War (Klinkner, 2006).
The 9/11 events brought significant changes in the way war was perceived by the general public and made it clear that terrorism was a genuine threat. The George W. Bush administration immediately began preparing to go to war as a consequence, and less than two years after the terrorist attacks, U.S. troops were marching into Iraq. It was crucial for the U.S. to change its policies regarding international security and human rights. Certain measures taken by the government proved divisive, with the international public unable to determine whether the U.S. employed a multilateral approach in the situation — as most expected, given its superpower status — or whether it acted on behalf of its own interests (Weiss, Crahan, & Goering, 2004, p. 4).
The international public was both supportive and uncooperative concerning U.S. involvement in several wars fought with the intention of protecting human rights. The country's actions abroad are considered to reflect the American Dream and all the concepts related to it — freedom, equal rights for everyone regardless of their backgrounds, and condemnation of immorality. Some of the actions carried out by the U.S. as a result of the Iraq War are at least controversial, given that "the U.S.A. Patriot Act, the detention of immigrants without charges, together with the designation of the Guantánamo detainees as 'non-combatants,' rather than 'prisoners of war' under the Geneva Conventions" (Weiss, Crahan, & Goering, 2004, p. 4) led some to express a skeptical attitude toward the war.
Americans were essentially presented with what they identified as an ethical dilemma during the war in Iraq. They were uncertain whether they should support their government in fighting a war against the country believed to harbor terrorists, or whether they should concentrate on doing what was right and refrain from committing irremediable errors. Of course, given their position at the time, it was natural for most Americans to believe they were entitled to seek justice. Reprisal was, however, an extreme act, as ethical behavior involves setting emotions aside and acting on the basis of what is genuinely right.
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