US troops question presence in Iraq

Guardian Unlimited ^ | 10-17-03 | Suzanne Goldenberg

[PatrioticCowboy]

I agree

[wimpycat]

Maybe he does, but it looks like you have an obsession of your own, judging by that index of threads he compiled.

[Bringbackthedraft]

Posted before? Missed it due to traveling south. Keep it going.

[illiac]

Here is actual text of the part of the poll that was taken:

¶ Asked about their personal morale, 34 percent overall rated it as “low” or “very low,” 27 percent said it was “high” or “very high,” and virtually all the rest called it “average.” Perceptions of their unit’s morale ranked heavier on the “low” side. This question of personal morale elicited widely different responses among the services. Reservists ranked their morale as the lowest by far. Marine and Air Force respondents tended to rate their own morale on the high side, while Army respondents were fairly evenly divided between high and low morale, with most falling in the middle, or “average.”

This actually means that 66% find it average to very high.

This means that the spin put on this story by the press is, once again, misleading.

[Dr. Frank fan]

I can't believe this. And here I thought that troops loved participating in wars and never questioned them at all. Well, if troops are unhappy, I guess we hafta call the war off, those are the rules. It's inconceivable that the U.S. should ever participate in a war in which one or more troops are unhappy. Other countries? sure. But the U.S. Army is only designed to fight blissfully delightful wars in which the troops' hearts are filled with joy and flowers. Therefore, Bush needs to call off this thing and bring the troops home (since some of them, the ones who were interviewed/surveyed for this article, are not happy).

That's the way it works in the U.S.A. It's how we got to be such a big superpower.

[dead]

In other words, 1/2 of those who answered the questionnaire (what was the response rate, I wonder?) said their morale was high or very high, 51% said it was likely they would re-enlist (what's the normal re-enlistment rate during peacetime?) and a WHOPPING 69%, over 2/3, in other words, a SUPER-MAJORITY, thought that the war has been worthwhile.

Those are amazingly positive numbers to receive when asking “Don’t your professional superiors suck?” types of questions.

They’d get a lot worse numbers around my office with an anonymous, self-selected survey like that.

[Prodigal Son]

Are you cyber-stalking me?

Not at all. I'm using the forum just like you.

Hey, I'm providing you with a valuable resource. No need for you to go digging in your My Comments page for the past two months you've been here posting bad news- you can get most all of it right here in one handy archive.

You realize, I never even understood the scope of how much bad news you've posted until another poster pointed it out to me. It was an eye-opener.

[Dog]

Thank you for those links. I am wondering about this freeper also......all I see them post is doom and gloom.

[JimVT]

Typical selective reporting of facts from the liberal media.

Anyone who wants to read the full accurate story from S and S click here:S&S

Here's a sample of some of the S&S story:

"Of those surveyed: ¶

Many Reserve and National Guard respondents said they were unhappy with a number of things, just as letter writers from those units had said in letters to the newspaper. They said they often felt like second-class soldiers who don’t receive the same equipment, support and treatment as their active-duty counterparts.

¶ When asked how worthwhile they thought the war in Iraq was for the United States, the split among all those responding was 67 percent saying it was “worthwhile,” “probably worthwhile” or “very worthwhile,” with 31 percent saying it was of “little value” or of “no value at all.”

¶ Asked about their personal morale, 34 percent overall rated it as “low” or “very low,” 27 percent said it was “high” or “very high,” and virtually all the rest called it “average.” Perceptions of their unit’s morale ranked heavier on the “low” side. This question of personal morale elicited widely different responses among the services. Reservists ranked their morale as the lowest by far. Marine and Air Force respondents tended to rate their own morale on the high side, while Army respondents were fairly evenly divided between high and low morale, with most falling in the middle, or “average.”

¶ Of all troops surveyed, 72 percent rated living conditions “average” or better. But disparities existed throughout the region. One Army unit could have three hot meals a day and another unit with the same mission subsisted on MREs and rationed bottles of water. Some units, although they had been in Iraq for months, still hadn’t had a day off or access to a hot shower. Other troops had been in Iraq a few weeks and were already being allowed to leave on morale trips.

The numbers show that sometimes camp conditions and morale are not always connected. Some Marines surveyed in southern Iraq live in austere conditions but still had overall high morale."

[Matchett-PI]

You forgot to post this:

"...These cost more lives than the American losses in Vietnam (58,135), but not as many lives as five years of murder in America (119,700 killed 1990-94). Or another way of looking at it, each atrocity on this page killed roughly the same number of people as a single year of medical mistakes in the USA (44,000 to 98,000). ..."

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat4.htm

[Dog]

What is the deal here........all I see you post is bad news.

[.cnI redruM]

NEWSFLASH*****SOLDIERS BITCH*******

[Coop]

I saw the guy who conducted this poll discussing it on TV last night. He said morale among reserves/national guarsmen was relatively low (not a surprise at all - they've been yanked out of their regular lives for a substantial amount of time, and probably have financial challenges thanks to it). But morale among the active duty was very good, especially among the Marines and Air Force. Overall, from how he was talking, the numbers were quite impressive. Let's face it. They're in a combat zone, a stifling desert, the R&R program had not yet started and tours were being lengthened at the time the poll was conducted. But of course this rag and the Wash Post will do their best to portray the negative, thereby adding to the threats and challenges our fighting forces face every day.

[wimpycat]

This account has been banned or suspended.

Patriotic Cowboy has been permanently put to pasture. He's ridden his last ride, sung "Home on the Range" for the last time, hung up his spurs, branded his last calf, etc.

[dighton]

Dude's going strong today.

No kiddin'!

[mathluv]

I saw a guy from Stars & Stripes on Fox, talking about this survey. He said morale depended on who you talked to. Reservists and Guard were likely to be down and want to come home. Marines were very high, as was Army and Air. I don't remember if he mentioned Navy.

[ravingnutter]

Rummy says you are full of it...

DoD Leaders Keeping Eye on Troop Morale

As for your other posts...

A Low Toll

[dead]

Patriotic Cowboy just got banned or suspended.

I guess your list was noticed.

Seems a little harsh to ban him though, just because he gets a little woody everytime an American soldier dies.

[wimpycat]

Patriotic Cowboy has shod his last horse, eaten his last tin plate of beans, extinguished his last campfire, etc.

[Matchett-PI]

What you have been feverishly posting here on FR is nothing new from the Marxist Left. Here's something written by a leftist in 1946. Hahahaha

Americans Are Losing The Peace In Eurpoe
Life Magazine ^ | January 7, 1946 | John Dos Passos
Posted on 10/17/2003 12:44 PM EDT by Weimdog
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1003058/posts