Why do the troops hate America?

Remember how about five minutes ago anybody who was opposed to the invasion & occupation of Iraq was 'on the side of the terrorists'? Remember 'pre 9/11' & 'post 9/11' thinking? Remember a fat crook like Denny Hastert or a relatively skinny one like Tom Delay saying it? Or a dope addled dope like Rush Limbaugh? Or an egomaniacal sex criminal like Bill O'Reilly? Or a white house butt-boy like Hannity? Or...or...or...

What's changed?

Nothing.

It was all non-sense all along. Some of us knew it & said so. We're heroes. We defended your freedom. For the most part you're NOT welcome. The lives lost are never coming back. The treasure lost, while not 'lost', is in the bank accounts of the war profiteers.

So far the 21st century, the New American Century has sucked so bad there aren't even words for it, only screams.

(From Washington Monthly)
MILITARY TIMES POLL.... A couple of days ago, the AP reported on dozens of interviews with soldiers of the Army's 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, which patrols the streets of eastern Baghdad, and learned that most of those seeing the conflict up close are discouraged, dejected, and ready to leave. As informative as the piece was, it was difficult to extrapolate from it and understand how most U.S. troops feel.

Fortunately, a poll for the Military Times newspapers, which questioned 6,000 randomly selected active-duty members, gives us a much better sense. In case the myth that military personnel still widely support the president's policy hadn't been debunked enough, these results should do the trick.

Barely one in three service members approve of the way the president is handling the war, according to the new poll for the four papers (Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Times). In another startling finding, only 41% now feel it was the right idea to go to war in Iraq in the first place.

And the number who feel success there is likely has shrunk from 83% in 2004 to about 50% today. A surprising 13% say there should be no U.S. troops in Iraq at all. [...]

Nearly three-quarters of the respondents think today's military is stretched too thin to be effective.

As for the escalation, only 38% of those surveyed believe more troops should be sent to Iraq, while 39% think there should be the same number or less than there are now. (The rest said they didn't know.)

On a related note, Greg Sargent mentioned that Defense Secretary Robert Gates "recently held a photo-op sit-down with some of the troops in Iraq. By sheer coincidence, all of the assembled troops said they support an increase in troops to Iraq."

Nevertheless, given the results, it's safe to say civilians aren't the only ones Bush is losing.

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