While the Democratic primary race has been facetiously dubbed a vicious “knife fight” by political pundits, sadly it has diverted attention from a real – and far more serious – fight.  As of last Sunday the Iraq War casualties reached 4,000 fallen US soldiers – a morbid milestone for the country 5 years after first invading Iraq. As significant as these numbers are – they’re not quite enough to make the Iraq War a top priority for voters. According to a Gallup poll released on Mar. 18th, 55% of those surveyed cited the economy as the most important problem facing the country. Pressing issues such as falling housing prices, rising energy costs, and negative job growth trumped any concerns about the conflict in Iraq. In fact, only 21% mentioned the Iraq War as their primary concern, as opposed to the 39% who viewed Iraq as the most important issue facing the country in early 2007.

            So why has the Iraq War been put on the back burner? Many people have argued that both the Presidential candidates and the American public have deemphasized Iraq as a problem facing the country because rationally – it’s not as big of a problem anymore. The Department of Defense has stated that despite the 4,000^th death of a US soldier serving combat missions in Iraq, casualty rates have been dramatically reduced since May of 2007. Some polls, like the Rasmussen Report released this morning, have found a greater level of optimism about the US military’s involvement in Iraq than ever before. 47% of those surveyed believed that the U.S. and its allies are “winning the War on Terror.” However, Rasmussen also found that 48% think the Iraq War will be viewed as a failure by future accounts, and 43% do not believe we are any safer than before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This finding is part of a trend in several other polls, in which an unprecedented number of citizens feel that the initial decision to invade Iraq was wrong. According to a Pew Research Center national survey conducted in February of 2008, a 54% majority said that the US decision to use military force in Iraq was a mistake, up from 49% who said the decision to invade Iraq was wrong last March. Interestingly enough, these statistics emerge from a survey that also found the same percentage – 48% – of Americans think the Iraq War is going well as those who think it’s not going well. A Gallup poll released Mar. 20 reinforces this sense of malcontent regarding the conflict in Iraq. 59% of Americans polled saw the Iraq War as a “mistake”, the highest percentage since the US sent troops to Iraq in 2003. Perhaps more significant is that the majority of those polled have little hope for future military operations in Iraq – 54% predict that the US military campaign in Iraq will be remembered as a failure. 

            So why is the Iraq War relegated to a secondary status in the national dialog if most Americans still oppose the invasion and desire policy change? As reported in The Huffington Post, only 2 newspapers devoted their entire front page to the 4,000 Iraq War casualties on Monday, Mar. 24. Perhaps voters are more focused on the economy because a recession would cause a substantial and real threat to the personal financial lives of millions of Americans – whereas military policy in Iraq has no direct effect on the lives of many Americans.  According to a Gallup poll taken during Feb. 21-24 of 2008, only 55% of Americans personally know someone who has served in Iraq in the US military – and only 14% within that group have an immediate relative who is an Iraq veteran or currently deployed. In comparison, 45% of those surveyed don’t have any close friends, family members, or co-workers who are serving in Iraq or have served. This begs the question – now that the war has reached 5 years of combat, does the Iraq conflict cease to be a priority for those who don’t have loved ones in jeopardy?

            There was no shortage of concerned family members and friends of U.S. soldiers at the New Castle County Airport Wednesday. On March 26, 25 Delaware Air National Guard Troops were deployed for Afghanistan to serve Operation Enduring Freedom. This was the second time in under a week that Delaware airmen were deployed to Afghanistan, bringing the total deployed from moderately-sized Delaware to 50 for this week. According to The News Journal, these 50 airmen will relieve another group, which will return home later this month.  

            Delaware is not insulated from the negative consequences of the Iraq War. The state has lost 14 young soldiers to the Iraq War, and has a casualty rate of 16.4 troops killed per 1,000,000 residents – the 17^th highest in the country. While Delaware’s numbers aren’t nearly as tragic as those from other parts of the country – such as Vermont, which has the highest Iraq casualty rate per capita with 30.5 deaths per 1,000,000 citizens – they are certainly higher than those from the nation’s capital. Washington D.C., the center of political discussion and federal legislation, has the third lowest Iraq death rate in the country – with 8.6 fallen troops for every 1,000,000 residents.

            Quite literally, Delaware is the first state to see the lamentable mortal consequences of Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Dover Air Force Base – a major military base in Delaware that provides 25% of the nation’s strategic airlift capability – includes the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs. The Carson Center is the U.S. Department of Defense’s largest mortuary facility and the only one located in the continental states. Therefore, the Dover AFB is the first to receive the bodies of fallen U.S. soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan as they are brought back to the country.

            But does our higher casualty rate and military base in Dover make us more invested in the Iraq War? Some young people in Delaware seem to think so.

            “The war has become a secondary issue,” Chris McIntyre, 22, of Garnet Valley states. “That could be a sign that things have calmed down and therefore the media has less to cover, or it could just be a sign that the average person is desensitized to the weekly death toll in Iraq and the media coverage reflects that…I don’t think that the average, middle-of-the-road voter here cares more because we have more casualties. But I would say there are more voters who care deeply because they know someone who has been injured or killed there.”

            Stephanie Ruiter, 22, of Newark thinks the decreased coverage of the Iraq War is more due to similarities among the candidates. “All three candidates’ stances on the war are relatively the same, with different timetables. Only McCain still insists on keeping the troops there…I think that the reason our area is most concerned is not only because we have a lot of kids in the military but also because our area is one of the most liberal areas in the nation.”

            The candidates plans for the Iraq War were a considerable factor for Gabe Humphreys, 28, of Hockessin, when he decided who to support in the 2008 election. “I think the reason the Iraq war is not first and foremost in the mind of voters is because so many of us feel removed from it. Delaware being what it is, we all know a friend of a friend who is in Iraq, but speaking personally, I don't directly know any soldiers currently serving there. As to how the war will influence my vote, I would have to say it definitely plays a part in my considerations. I am probably going to vote for Hillary because she has a less radical plan for Iraq than the other two candidates. By taking the middle road, she acknowledges the mess we created, and that we can't just ‘up and leave,’ but also that we cannot stick around for another 20 years.”