His father lost the 1992 election in spite of having won a famous military victory in the sands of Arabia. It now looks possible that in November George Bush will lose the presidency because of one. Over the past few months a variety of reverses in Iraq-the uprisings in Fallujah and Najaf, the scandal of Abu Ghraib-appear to have up-ended American opinion about the wisdom of the invasion. For much of the first year of occupation, most Americans showed commendable patience. They continued to give their president the benefit of the doubt even when confronted with unwelcome surprises, such as the non-discovery of the weapons of mass destruction with which Saddam Hussein was said to have been threatening America, or the apparently inexplicable decision of many Iraqis to take up arms against the very army that had liberated them from dictatorship. The benefit of the doubt appears now to have been withdrawn. In April last year, according to the Gallup Organisation, 76% of Americans thought the war had been worthwhile. By last weekend, 52% had come to think the opposite.
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