President Bush’s pluralistic ignorance toward Iraq

After Saddam Hussein was ousted from power and sent into hiding in “spider holes,” the American media and public believed that the Iraqi citizens would shower the United States military with “rice and roses.” But there was no real enjoyment for U.S. troops to be in Iraq: instead of cries of liberation, there were shouts of occupation, and it seems that along with the roses were also homemade bombs and improved explosive devices. The American government’s ethnocentric view to Iraq and the Middle East in general created a pluralistic ignorance phenomenon for many Americans, which has kept public opinion relatively high in America, while the Iraqi people hate us for being there.