Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: A majority of the American pub lic, polls suggest, have been against the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign in Iran from the day it started.
Republicans, however, have largely stuck by their President as the war ap proaches the end of its fourth week. But that may be changing.
At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas recently, some of the party faithful ex pressed concern about why the US started this war, how Donald Trump is going to end it and whether the effort has been worth the costs.
“I just wish that there was more trans parency on why we’re doing what we’re doing, that way you could send your loved one overseas and be OK with that,” said Samantha Cassell.
The CPAC has been welcoming ground for Trump for a decade, shifting from a libertarian-leaning gathering to one dominated by Make America Great Again loyalists.
Even more than a thousand miles from Washington DC, the war in Iran was a common topic of conversation. And if there has been a recurring theme among the dozens of people inter viewed by the BBC, it is that the conflict is creating a generational divide within conservative ranks.
“I don’t like that it’s become America’s job to find bad people and get rid of them,” Toby Blair, a 19-year-old college student at the University of South Florida, said.
Iranian Americans celebrate However, among the attendees at the conference a vocal group of Iranian Americans have been boisterously cel ebrating the US military operation. They are seeking a regime change in Iran and are thanking Trump for his efforts.
On March 27, former Congressman Matt Gaetz warned that, with thou sands of new US soldiers heading to the Middle East, a ground invasion of Iran would make the US “poorer and less safe”.
While 79% of Republicans approve of how the President is handling the war, only 49% strongly approve. That num ber drops to 22% among those who “lean” Republican.
