Active-Duty Military Support for Bush and the Iraq War Dropping
According to a poll of Military Times readers, support for President Bush's leadership as commander-in-chief and support for the war in Iraq is dropping among the U.S. military. Over the course of the last year support for the Iraq War dropped 9 percent, and barely a majority, 54 percent, view the commander-in-chief's performance as positive. Losing the support of active duty military could be the final straw for President Bush in Iraq. Already, the foreign policy establishment – former military, former intelligence officials and former foreign service officers – have publicly expressed their opposition to the war...
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Active-Duty Military Support for Bush and the Iraq War Dropping
Kevin Zeese , DemocracyRising
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Wednesday, 04 January 2006 |
According to a poll of Military Times readers,
support for President Bush's leadership as commander-in-chief and
support for the war in Iraq is dropping among the U.S. military. Over
the course of the last year support for the Iraq War dropped 9 percent,
and barely a majority, 54 percent, view the commander-in-chief's
performance as positive.
Losing the support of active duty
military could be the final straw for President Bush in Iraq. Already,
the foreign policy establishment - former military, former intelligence
officials and former foreign service officers - have publicly expressed their opposition to the war. In addition, Gold Star families who have lost loved ones, military families with members currently serving, and Iraq War veterans are speaking out against the war. And, there have been increasing cases of soldiers refusing to return to Iraq. In addition, the military has been unable to meet its recruitment goals.
At a recent international peace conference, Chris Nineham of the Stop the War Coalition
described how British and U.S. troops are losing faith, how they have
low morale and their primary goal is to get out of Iraq alive and in
one piece. He discussed the history of the Vietnam War and how when soldiers in Vietnam turned against their officers
the war was impossible to continue. He pointed to several U.S. and
British military reports that indicated that this is beginning to occur
in Iraq. Thus, this survey presents serious problems for the Bush and
his military leadership.
According to the Military Times
poll, in 2003 64 percent believed that the U.S. should have gone to
Iraq, in 2005 that dropped to 56 percent. In 2004, 38 percent believed
the U.S. was very likely to succeed in Iraq, in 2005 that was down to
31 percent. And, a rapid exit from Iraq is not predicted as 80 percent
believe the U.S. will be in Iraq for more than three years of those 45
percent believe the U.S. will be in Iraq for more than five years. Two
thirds of the respondents believe the military is stretched too thin to
be effective.
There is also not a lot of confidence in the
civilian leadership. Congress is held in particularly low esteem with
only 2% strongly agreeing that Congress has the best interests of the
military at heart and 57% not agreeing that Congress has the best
interests of the military at heart. Sixteen percent strongly believe
the civilian leadership of the DoD has the best interests of the
military at heart, and 19 percent strongly believe President Bush has
the best interests of the military at heart.
Respondents also
were less likely than in the past to believe other segments of the
country viewed the military favorably. In 2004, 37 percent said
civilians viewed the military very favorably; that fell to 24 percent
this year. Last year, 77 percent said politicians saw the military very
or somewhat favorably; 63 percent said so this year. In
reality support for the war and support for the President is probably
even lower as this poll probably skews the results in favor of the
President for several reasons. First the surveys respondents are on
average older, more experienced, more likely to be officers and more
career-oriented than the military population. Second, respondents were
reluctant to express even anonymous opinions about the
commander-in-chief or his policies. About one in five refused to say
whether they approved of the president's performance on Iraq or
overall. "That's my boss," Army Lt. Col. Earnestine Beatty said in a
follow-up interview to Military Times. The
views expressed in the military come at a time when questions are being
raised in Congress. Rep. John Murtha - a very strong supporter of the
military in Congress and a highly decorated Marine Corps veteran of 37
years has not only called for withdrawal from Iraq but told Nightline,
in a show aired on January 2, that he would not join the military today
and agreed that the average guy would be justified in not wanting to
serve. All this shows serious problems for the U.S. military - problems that will worsen every day the United States stays in Iraq.
Kevin Zeese is Director of Democracy Rising and a candidate for U.S. Senate.
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:: Article nr. 19295 sent on 05-jan-2006 21:45 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=19295
Link: democracyrising.us/content/view/399/151/
:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website.
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