"""63% of Americans aged 18 to 24 couldn't find Iraq on a map after we'd been at war there for three years.""" Yes, but not because they are dumb. It's becaus

"""63% of Americans aged 18 to 24 couldn't find Iraq on a map after we'd been at war there for three years.""" Yes, but not because they are dumb. It's because you're NOT really at war with Iraq, and I mean not in the sense that other countries are at war. What happens is that your central government sends some (paid) troops to fight 10,000 miles away. And they fight some states with minimal arsenals, tiny air-force etc, or tribal/urban guerrillas. Now, besides the families and friends of your troops, this "war" doesn't affect the general population at all. There are no counter-measures or attacks by the enemy in your soil, no adverse effects on economy (except some overspending), etc. So people in the US, from Idaho to New Orleans, could care less if there is a war happening or not. Even the "support our troops" is mostly a goodwill/political statement, a self-adhesive ribbon for your car, not a matter of life and death. Now, what happens when two countries go to an actual war, historically, is much more grave: hundreds of thousands (or even millions) die, their cities are bombed, there is compulsory drafting, thousands of refuges, food shortages and a huge toil on the nation's economy. You haven't see any such war, at least since WWII (and even that one you fought with minimum impact, --with the exception of Pearl Harbor--, thanks to the US's convenient distance from Germany/Japan).