Iraq and the South ... stay tuned

As Facing South regulars know, the Institute has a special interest in how the South is uniquely tied to the military, including how the region has been impacted by Iraq and the broader "war on terror."

Over the last few months, we've been working on an exciting research and polling project with the excellent School of Public and International Affairs at NC State University to get a better handle on how the public views Iraq and U.S. foreign policy, especially in the South.

The results of our polling and research are rolling in -- with some very surprising results. We'll have some interesting pieces of information ready by early next week ... so stay tuned.

In the meantime, Congress has approved $70 billion more for war spending, bringing the total price tag up to $507 billion for Iraq alone. But the bill passed today was also rebuffed the Bush Administration by blocking the U.S. from building permanent military bases in Iraq or controlling the country's oil sector.

As for the most recent polls, two-thirds of the U.S. public believes Iraq is in a civil war and a shocking 60% of Iraqis support attacks on U.S. troops.