Do they not understand this? Or does their hatred for the US trump all else??
Is there a sizable portion of the population strongly opposed to the war on Iraq? No. There is certainly a VOCAL portion...
I don't believe a majority of these demonstrators, particularly at American rallies, are particularly opposed to the war on Iraq per se. What drives most of them is a desire to defeat President Bush in 2004 "by whatever means necessary." The looming war, for many of them, is nothing more than a convenient focal point for their opposition.
Talk with a protest rally participant, and you'll likely find little or no depth of understanding of the issues, the strategies, or the consequences of action versus appeasement. What you likely will find is an association with NOW, PETA, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, or any of a myriad of leftist organizations, most with little to do with foreign policy or national defense issues.
It is quite striking, for example, how many so-called anti-war demonstrators (really, of course, they're anti-American demonstrators) are pro-abortion activists. Yes, they're concerned about Iraqi deaths, but wish to enable the deaths of American babies. And from their twisted perspective, it's logical: anything that will result in the defeat of George Bush, even if it means appeasement and a resulting foreign policy disaster, will enable them to start rebuilding their activist judicial majority.
Had Saddam not existed, the liberals would have, in effect, invented him. They would have found some focal point for their opposition to President Bush, no matter the consequences. Even now, for example, it is clear that liberals, both in and out of Congress, are doing everything possible to retard economic recovery; they desperately don't want success on George Bush's watch.