Three years after a whopping 70 percent of Americans supported the war — you know, when the troops were roaring through the desert with hardly a foe in sight — now most people want it to end. Polls show support for the Iraq war has plummeted to 35 percent.

Most people were gung ho when it looked like we’d have an easy time of it. Apparently they thought we would have our own little blitzkrieg, teach Saddam and the Iraqis a lesson and ship the troops back home in time for football season.

Still, all those yellow ribbons never said support the war; they said "Support the Troops."

Most Americans don’t like war or conflict or tragedy. We prefer the routine annual traditions in sports (March Madness) and family that give our lives those moments of joy, which are all we have. So, why did we let the president get away with it?

I know, we were duped into it and less than six weeks after "shock and awe" we were told the war was over, and we believed him. But since then, month by month, we’ve heard the death knells toll and faced the casualty figures with an all-too complacent "oh, well" — unless, of course, the sacrifice was personal.

I know, even the president was fooled by his advisers, his misunderstanding and his ignorance. But we, the people, should have known better. We knew those guys had it in for Iraq from the start; and then 9/11 gave them a easier sell. Can you believe how many people to this day believe Saddam was involved those attacks?

But the violent opposition to our occupation mounted and so did the fatalities and injuries for our troops. And it became clear that there were no weapons of mass destruction. Support for the war began to diminish — and it continues.

And it will keep growing as we hear one nightmarish tale after another — whether from Iraq or Washington.

Another ambush: 10 troops die. Another massacre: troops wipe out 15 Iraqi civilians including women and children. Another revelation: our intelligence was flawed and the administration knew it.

Now the White House is trying to blame the media for reporting all these negative details rather than focusing on the signs of success in the big picture that the president, in his delusion, apparently sees.

It many ways the media coverage since before the invasion has mirrored the American psyche. They weren’t skeptical enough about pre-war intelligence and seemed to enjoy riding along in tanks and humvees on the march to Baghdad. Only when the going got tough did they get tough with their investigations and questions.

And now this mad cowboy is using liberty and democracy as his calling cards. By George, they’re gonna be free even if it’s at the barrel of a gun — which it is.

Axis of evil? We better look in the mirror. Because of our actions, more than 2,300 U.S. troops and anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Iraqis are dead since the misguided invasion. (Isn’t it sick that we don’t have a better estimate than that?) And the numbers keep climbing every day.

Everyone acted so surprised this week when the president said troops would still be in Iraq when he left office. Did people really think we weren’t going to have a long-term occupation force with permanent military bases?

What’s a civil war, anyway? The president says there isn’t one, some other observers in both countries say the death and destruction going on definitely qualifies. And to think at one time we were worried there might be civil war if we pulled out. I guess the civil warriors couldn’t wait.

Try this for mad-cowboy logic:

1. Iraq has WMD, so must invade.

2. Without WMD, Iraq still must be forced to be free and have a democracy.

3. Iraq must be liberated and occupied as part of the war on terrorism.

4. We must stay because too many Iraqis are opposed to us and the government we have imposed on them.

5. If we withdraw, Iraq will become a breeding and launching ground for terrorism.

Common sense: It was not necessary to invade Iraq. Before we attacked, Iraq was not involved with al Qaida, had a relatively peaceful though repressive society, was not a threat to anyone but itself — and 100,000 people were still alive.

That’s only part of the cost. The president’s latest request for another $70 billion would bring the total cost of the Iraq war to $315 billion, just through the end of this year.

Try to imagine the impact borrowing that much money — and more — is going to have on our future. March madness, anyone?

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Cary Brunswick is managing editor of The Daily Star. He can be reached at (607) 432-1000, ext. 217, or cary@thedailystar.com.