Desert Storm Revisited

Home Front
Before the fighting began, as the troops built up, the prospect of going to war was debated endlessly across the U.S., from coffee shops to Congress. The country turned increasingly to its television sets, tuning in particularly to CNN, where the pros and cons of battle were chewed over endlessly. Lingering doubts persisted right up through the invasion, as polls showed that approximately half the country thought that the U.S. should wait longer for diplomacy to work. But on January 16, the terms of the debate shifted, as the country awoke to find itself at war.

• Going Home from Iraq