[PatrioticCowboy]

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[PatrioticCowboy]

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[PatrioticCowboy]

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[PatrioticCowboy]

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[been_lurking]

As any regular reader of the Stars and Stripes can attest, that rag has always been a megaphone for the the sadsacks and yardbirds.

[PatrioticCowboy]

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[Prodigal Son]

More bad news Cowboy? Let's throw it on the pile as well.

Patriotic Cowboy's daily bad news from the front threads:

1. US soldier killed in Iraq rocket attack

2. Suspected Taliban destroy Afghan police station

3. Bomb Kills U.S. Soldier in Restive Iraqi Town

4. US Soldiers Injured In Baghdad

5. America's Hidden Battlefield Toll

6. Three Three U.S. soldiers wounded in attack in Iraq

7. Wounded Billed For Hospital Food

8. Two U.S. Soldiers Killed, 7 Wounded in Iraq Raid

9. Kabul hit by second explosion in a day

10. Masked Guerrillas Battle U.S. Soldiers in Iraq

11. U.S. Soldier Killed By Homemade Bomb In Iraq

12. U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq Attack -U.S. Military

13. Car Bomb at US Military Outpost near Arbil Northern Iraq~~~ there are wounded.

14. Fourteen Wounded In Iraq

15. US Soldier Dies In Convoy Atack

16. 2 U.S. soldiers wounded in Afghan attacks

17. Three troops killed in Basra attack

18. 2 More US Soldiers Die In Iraq

19. U.S. Soldier Killed in Action in Iraq, Army Says

20. US Soldier Killed During Fighting In Iraq

21. Four U.S. Soldiers Wounded By Makeshift Bomb In Iraq

22. American Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

23. US Soldier Killed, Two Wounded In Baghdad

24. American Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

25. US Soldier Killed In Iraq

26. Troops Wounded In Action Not Listed Among Casualties

27. Ten Policemen Killed In Worsening Afghan Violence

28. Rebel Violence Intensifies In Afghanistan

29. U.S Soldier Dies In Blast In Iraq; 2 Hurt In Attack

30. Remember Afghanistan?

31. U-S Military Reports Another American Soldier Killed In Iraq

32. Two Taleban Attacks In Afghanistan Kill 25 People

33. Two U-S Soldiers Injured; Two Iraqis Killed In Separate Incidents

34. Suspected Taliban Attack Second Police Station In Southeast Afghanistan, Take Four Hostages

35. Five US Soldiers Wounded"

36. Wave Of Sabotage Hits Iraq, Baghdad Jail Attacked

37. 22 Killed In Afghanistan Battle

38. Danish Soldier Killed, Two U.S. Soldiers Wounded

39. U.S. to Withhold Some Funds from Israel

40. U.S. army says 15 Taliban killed

41. More US soldiers wounded in Iraq

42. Iraq: Four U.S. Soldiers Reported Wounded In Separate Attacks

43. Mortars Kill 2 U.S. Soldiers, Wound 13 in Iraq

44. Odigo says workers were warned of attack

45. 8 US soldiers wounded in Iraq attack, 1 person killed in bomb at NBC HQ

46. US soldier killed in Kirkuk

47. Taliban kill Afghan governor's bodyguards

48. BOMBERS KILL US SOLDIER

49. U.S. Soldier Killed in Attack Northeast of Baghdad

50. Rumsfeld 'Surprised' by Saddam Loyalists

51. CIA HQ Possibly Target of Baghdad Blast

52. Taliban Kill Eight Policemen in Afghan Attack

53. Afghans fail to find 41 Taliban jailbreakers

54. Roadside Bomb Wounds Three U.S. Soldiers in Iraq

55. Landmine Kills US Soldier in Iraq

56. U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraqi Town of Tikrit

57. Four soldiers hurt in Basra blast

58. US soldier killed in Iraq ambush

59. Taliban militants attack security officers

60. Bomb Narrowly Misses Governor Of Iraqi Province -NYT

61. Three U.S. Soldiers Killed in 24-Hour Period

62. 3 US soldiers dead in Iraq

63. US explores its Afghanistan exit options

64. Suicide bombing outside Turkish mission in Baghdad - report

65. Soldier killed in traffic crash in Iraq

66. 9 U.S. Soldiers Die in 7 Separate Incidents in Iraq

67. Blasts rock coalition headquarters

68. Car bomb explodes in northern Iraq

69. US death toll in Iraq exceeds 100

70. Deadly roadside bombing in Baghdad

[wimpycat]

Instead, 49% of those who answered the newspaper's questionnaire rated the morale of their unit as low or very low, 49% said it was unlikely they would re-enlist, and 31% said they thought the war had not been worthwhile.

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.

[Prodigal Son]

By the way, this was already posted and discussed a couple of times yesterday.

[Bringbackthedraft]

I can understand some of the gripes from the Reserves and the Guard units, (mainly for the hardships at home caused by the call up) but it is war, and one is expected to carry out their duties. (Note, many of the units called up were units that are no longer fully manned in the Army i.e. Civil Affairs Units.) Lucky for them it isn't for "the duration" as it was for those in WWII. When we volunteer we don't volunteer to serve for a specified period in any particular theater. We just can't say: "Its getting rough and fustrating I think I'd like to go home now". Hopefully help is on the way, and I would still like to see those Japanese troops take over the prisons!

[InterceptPoint]

This just doesn't pass the smell test.

[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.

[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

[.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.

[ravingnutter]

Rummy says you are full of it...

DoD Leaders Keeping Eye on Troop Morale

As for your other posts...

A Low Toll