During the past three days, the US lost 8 more soldiers in the Iraq war. Expect the Bush administration to caution that, now that the campaign has begun for the planned December parliamentary elections, the insurgency will once again escalate. The problem is that it doesn’t seem to have slowed down now for a very long time, regardless of how much Bush would like to convince people otherwise by putting a happy face sticker in the “progress” column. That reality is now being voiced by more and more soldiers.
The old lie that “if you don’t support the war, you don’t support the troops” must be put to rest – for good.
Via AP:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than half of North Carolina military members surveyed in the latest Elon University poll disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq and his overall job performance.
Nearly 53 percent of military members said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of Bush’s handling of his job. And just more than 56 percent of that same group strongly disapproved or disapproved of how he has dealt with the Iraq war.
This is Bush’s war that those soldiers are fighting for him and they have lost confidence in their Commander-in-Chief. Surely, they can’t all be liberal peace freaks as the delusional warmongers would have you believe.
The promise of a draw-down of troops in Iraq is, of course, another lie, and that right now the number of our armed forces currently in country is around 160,000, close to the all-time high.
Not to mention the civilians drawn over there by the promise of high pay for dangerous work, and the profit each of them brings Halliburton.
This poll is particularly damming isn’t it as it was conducted with only military families. Bush’s approval rating by these surveyed also only gave him 41% approval..good news as far as I’m concerned.
I think all the dirty dealings concerning the troops are starting to make military families realize that bush isn’t very pro-troops no matter what he spouts in all his little pep talk speeches. And the Rummy doesn’t give a damn about them either.
They know first hand that their benefits get cut, that they didn’t get enough or the right equipment to keep them safe, that they aren’t getting adequate health care when they return, that the 15,000 dollars promised as bonus for joining the service has been rescinded(fuckers)and the list of not supporting troops by this administration goes on/on. That mercenaries are being hired by the Pentagon at huge salaries while many of the troops families qualify for food stamps-the troops know all this and it is starting to take a toll on even the most gung ho bush supporters I think(hope so anyway)and the bigger question of them wondering just why they are still there after all.
are hitting the hustings trying to rally the troops just as this poll was put out.
One woman who apparently was a Bush supporter was saying that we just need to pray for the prez and I told her to pray harder cause it wasn’t working and he needed all the help he could get.
I think more and more people, especially in the military, are starting to realize that in the end, bush doesn’t really understand anything about what’s going on in the war or at home.
Even the knee-jerk, gung ho supporters are finally coming to the conclusion that Bush really is an arogant imbecile who has no more real concern for their well-being than he has for the cows on his faux ranch in Texas.
Like parents reluctant to admit that what their child is telling them about being molested by the parish priest is actually true, bush supporters are nowwrestling with a similar problem. No one want’s to admit they’ve been duped, and certainly most ofus are reluctant to admit that our leaders could be capable of such massive and pervasive malfeasance.
Denial may be the most dificult habit for humans to break; harder to relinquish one’s illusions than it is to give up drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
That phrase has always bugged me. No, the US did not lose the soldiers, we know right where they are. They are dead, they passed on, but they are not lost.
There is an unspoken contract between the American people and those of us that join the military.
The bush Administration is in breach of contract with the men and women of our military.
1a. There are very real questions about some of the equipment in number 1. Our troops are the best trained and equiped but it is clear that they should have been better armored and for all the money we spend on defense there is no excuse for this.
2a. The bush administration has been cutting benefits left and right, many of our military families qualify for welfare, and our national guard families are really screwed because it is not part of the deal for their lives to be torn apart like this on continual extended tours of duty alongside regular service but even lower paid then them.
3a. The President of the United States does not have the dignity or compassion to have attended even one funeral. His Pentagon has ordered that We the People not be allowed to honor our dead and weep for our family members upopn their return home to our shores. Their sacrifices are hidden from us as if they don’t count.
4a. See number 2a. The bush administration talks about supporting the troops and cuts benefits and closes VA Hospitals while underfunding the rest.
5a. The ultimate sin on the part of the bush Administration. They have sent our troops into harms way for their own diabolical schemes and their friends (and their own) profit margins.
6a. Despite all of this… the brave men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States of America continue to hold up their end of the contract.
Is there any surprise when the true facts are considered that our military does not support an Administration that is in breach of contract? In other nations when the government loses the military it loses it’s head. In this country the military will honor it’s end of the bargin regardless.
Why?
Because their contract is ultimately with… us, We the People. The government may be in breach of contract and the military may be losing faith in their civilian (and probably military) leadership but they have not lost faith in We the People to hold up our end of the contract. It is our job to replace a government that is as dishonorable as this one.
The bush Administration has proven it has no right and no ability to govern. It must be replaced.
Peace,
Andrew
Some of these guys are in Iraq for the fifth time. That never happened in Vietnam unless you volunteered for it. The military families know what’s going on, and they know that the survivors of dead and injured soliders are being screwed by the Pentagon. To my great distress, one of my best friends is doing the screwing.
Military families can’t possibly be able to put up with this much longer. The stress and sacrifice is off the hook. I feel bad for all the family members and all the poor people walking the walk in Iraq.