Another Katrina Casualty

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News anchor and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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To the list of casualties from Hurricane Katrina, should we now add the president's dream for Iraq? American has been rightfully focused on the hurricane, but these have been the worst deadliest days in Iraq since the invasion, 250 dead, more than 600 wounded. But as bad as it is there, the storm has caused many Americans to ask: Is the worst problem here?

A new CBS News-New York Times poll shows that 83 percent of Americans are now concerned the war is draining money and resources needed back home. To understand the turnaround in thinking, consider this. The poll found 62 percent of us are ready to pay more taxes to help victims of the storm, but only 20 percent favor more taxes to pay for the war. I am among those who believe we could not just walk away from Iraq, but staying now may be easier said than done. For the first time, a majority of Americans favors pulling out of Iraq as soon as possible, not when the job is done. Less than a third believe the war has made us safer. Sixty-three percent are uneasy about the president's ability to make the right decisions. On this one, a CNN poll says even the famous bearers of bad news, the hated news media, get higher marks than the president.

What's next in Iraq? The answer, my friend, may be blowing in the wind, the wind that was Hurricane Katrina.


By Bob Schieffer