Why do the majority of the troops no longer support Bush or the Iraq war?

Question

Two thirds of the troops disapprove of the way the war in Iraq is being handled, and the same two thirds also disapprove of Bush in general;

http://www.militarycity.com/polls/2006_main.php

So much for the theory of troops being staunch republicans......

"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"

Doesn't sound like support for the reason of the war to me. Gotcha.

HOW WE DID IT

On Nov. 13, we mailed question naires to 6,000 people drawn at random from our list of active-duty subscribers.

Recipients were asked to mail their answers to an independent firm that machine-tabulated the results to guarantee anonymity. We stopped processing incoming questionnaires Dec. 22.

About 4,000 of the 6,000 people who received questionnaires turned out to be on active duty.

Only responses from active-duty personnel were tabulated. Of those 4,000, 954 responded.

The margin of error in the survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence interval, meaning there is a 95 percent probability that results of the poll are accurate within 3 percentage points.

Those polled differ from the military as a whole in important ways. They tend to be older, higher in rank and more career-oriented.

Answer 1

I was in Iraq when it first started and even then most of the people I worked with didn't approve. It was a rushed decision and didn't seem like the right one at the time and wasn't. You don't put thousands of people in harms way because you think there is something there, it should be fact. It wasn't because we didnt want to fight either it just didnt feel right. I also served in Afganistan and at the time it felt like the right thing to do and I believe it was. Terrible decision.

Answer 2

well even though there are no numbers, no data, methodology just says its a survey in the mail.. this poll is sooo less than legit its funny.
But let me take a sample out of it and see if there is ummm some things that dont make sense.

"""Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of those surveyed said the senior military leadership has the best interests of the troops at heart. And though they don’t think much of the way he’s handling the war, 48 percent said the same about President Bush. But they take a dim view of civilian military lead ership — only 32 percent said they think it has their best inter ests at heart. And only 23 percent think Congress is looking out for them."""

Now according to this newspaper, 63 percent said military leadership has their best interests at heart... then later it says only 32 percent say military leadership has their best interests at heart.
Unless there is something specific about Civiliian military leadership.. which is ... what? they dont define it.

And of course the military has only about 23% support for congress so what does that say.... they have more faith in Bush than Congress.

This poll is kkrap.

Answer 3

I believe it when the military says they support free speech and open communications to the public and to the media for all military personnel.
(Calibrate B.S Detectors here)
Your heroic leaders did not want you to see the coffins being brought home because it might upset you, so of course little Johny loves being in Iraq. The weather is sunny all the time and everybody is real friendly. The food is great!
RAH! RAH! RAH! Cue George Bush Jr. and the other dancing cheerleaders with short skirts and pom poms!

I don't consider Military Times to be a leftwing organization, or dishonest.

Answer 4

I've seen the same thing in the Navy Times. I believe it was the January 8, 2007 issue that ran it. I know that the majority of people I worked with didn't support the rush to war with Iraq. I know of several people that worked in the Pentagon that were forced out of their positions because their analysis wasn't the same as what Cheney and Rumsfeld wanted to hear. My friend got out of the navy after 16 years, because the report he wrote was NOT the same report that he was given credit for. I know of a Captain that resigned because his report contadicted what the Bush Admin was putting forward. He was going to put on Rear Admiral Lower Half because of his report, but when he actually looked at it, his conclusions had been changed.

Answer 5

I believe the majority of the troops do support President Bush in the Iraq War. To base such a statement on a web-site is ridiculous. I don't remember ever seeing any data that stated that the majority of the troops were "staunch republicans". I think such generalizations are dangerous to the morale of not only the troops, but the nation at large. Many Democrats are distancing themselves from Mertha (the champion of the end the war now camp), because he is siting statistics that no one can substantiate. Not to mention that polls are now showing a shift in the publics view of the war.

Answer 6

Like my dad always said, " A person can find statistics to support any position they want." This "poll" doesn't tell us how many people they surveyed, what types of people were surveyed, and what questions were used to take the survey. You can receive almost any result you want depending on how the questions are phrased. Don't believe everything you read.

Answer 7

they probably never did.

just look at the iraq war vets who came home and ran for public office - almost all were dems.

that should have been a clue that the real feelings of the armed forces were being either exaggerated or distorted altogether.

it's also consistent with the way bush has just used the troops as props for photo opps and as a way of playing this disgusting game of chicken he is playing the dems in congress - basically daring them to withdraw funding.

also look at the conditions in walter reed - any who think that troops will not be deeply impacted by seeing their fallen brothers and sisters so treated are day dreaming.

Answer 8

then i guess i'm one of the people who go against the croud. i'm strongly democratic, in the navy, disapprove of the way he's HANDLING the situation, approve of WHY he's doing what he's doing. just wish that he could've thought of a better way to handle this middle east situation. and i actually don't find myself sitting there hating on bush 24/7 like some of my buddies. he's OUR president. WE put him there. WE elected for him to stay for an additional 4 years. you don't like it? VOTE.

nonetheless, i still joined. why do you think people CONTINUE to pour into MEPS everyday to enlist? and no it's not for money and benefits. they support the cause. doesn't necessarily mean that they love the way it's being handled though.

Answer 9

Approving of how things are being handled and SUPPORTING why we're there are two different things. Bottom line is that our troops and much of the country would absolutely LOVE a better plan to ensure victory, NOT the cut and run plan by the democrats. Which is funny......you don't hear too many of them calling for that anymore!

Answer 10

The troops are complaining as this whole war was run by politicians. This is what the troops are actually complaining about. War is dirty and a crime and there is no way to fight it in a civilised way. Too much media coverage to project a just cause has backfired.

As for Bush. He is a dimwit. God knows who does his thinking for him.