I would refer anyone who happens on this to scroll way down to the entry from 1watt1 in WAPO's "White House Briefing" column by Dan Froomkin.
Naturally, the common people don’t want war, but after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag people along...
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.
–Reich-Marshall Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg Trials