U.S. Troops Disapprove of Bush

[Doug]

Down on the war
Poll: More troops unhappy with Bush’s course in Iraq

By Robert Hodierne
Senior managing editor, Military Times


The American military — once a staunch supporter of President Bush and the Iraq war — has grown in creasingly pessimistic about chances for victory.

For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president’s han dling of the war than approve of it. Barely one-third of service members approve of the way the president is handling the war, ac cording to the 2006 Military Times Poll.

When the military was feeling most optimistic about the war — in 2004 — 83 percent of poll re spondents thought success in Iraq was likely. This year, that number has shrunk to 50 percent.

Only 35 percent of the military members polled this year said they approve of the way President Bush is handling the war, while 42 percent said they disapproved. The president’s approval rating among the military is only slight ly higher than for the population as a whole. In 2004, when his popularity peaked, 63 percent of the military approved of Bush’s handling of the war. While ap proval of the president’s war lead ership has slumped, his overall approval remains high among the military.

Just as telling, in this year’s poll only 41 percent of the military said the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place, down from 65 percent in 2003.

Read the rest here.

[Tony]

Yeah, I have quite a few friends serving in the military and more than a couple are very angry with the whole damn mess and have been for a long time.
Should have reflected longer before signing that dotted line. They hate when I say that.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

It's interesting that they are saying it at all. Active-duty personnel tend to not criticize their CoC. It's why presidents with military foreign policy bents get away with stuff - they can pretend the military supports them, when in actuality the military is just keeping its mouth shut. As for considering longer before signing, many of them signed up either before W started this war or needed the money for education/training (as the grandson of a friend of mine did). It's reported (NYT, I don't remember when but sometime last week) that W is starting his "surge" by holding over 2 Marine units who were scheduled to come home. (One more time...)