Iraq dominated the headlines throughout the fall of 2002 and into the winter of 2003. Public opinion on the wisdom of war, however, stabilized relatively early and slightly in favor of war. Gallup found that from August 2002 through early March 2003 the share of Americans favoring war hovered in a relatively narrow range between a low of 52 percent and a high of 59 percent. By contrast, the share of the public opposed to war fluctuated between 35 percent and 43 percent.
Looks like Americans are even more happy with murdering people if its done by a puppet.
I don’t think there is any “western” country where the people have any control over foreign policy. Japan elected a leader in 2012 that was going to prevent a US military base. Resigned a week before he was going to do it. Similar story in Australia. France elected a leader ~40 years ago I think who was going to dismantle french control in africa. Got elected and realized he had no power to do so, or at least said as much. The recent wars in the middle east were less popular in Europe, afaik, and yet they all stayed involved for exactly as long as the USA.
I think foreign policy, domestic policy, and economic system together are the state. Everything else is just window-dressing. Thats why we have no democratic control over it. The authority of the state is non-negotiable.
