Poll for military papers finds troops' support for war plunging

It's often written or said in the media that, despite public opposition to the Iraq War here at home, military personnel strongly back President Bush's handling of the conflict. But a new poll for the Military Times newspapers shows that more troops disapprove of the president's handling of the war than approve of it. 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 percent 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 percent in 2004 to about 50 percent today. A surprising 13 percent say there should be no US troops in Iraq at all. This comes even though only about one in ten called their overall political views "liberal." The annual mail survey was conducted Nov. 13 through Dec. 22. Among the respondents, two in three have deployed at least once to Iraq or Afghanistan. Nearly three-quarters of the respondents think today's military is stretched too thin to be effective. "The poll has come to be viewed by some as a barometer of the professional career military," the Military Times wrote. "It is the only independent poll done on an annual basis. The margin of error on this year's poll is plus or minus three percentage points." While approval of Bush's handling of the war has plunged, approval for his overall performance as president remains at 52 percent. The poll also found that while the personnel believe the public has a positive view of them, they are convinced the media do not–only 39 percent said they think the media have a favorable view of the troops. "While President Bush always portrays the war in Iraq as part of the larger war on terrorism, many in the military are not convinced," the Military Times reported. "The respondents were split evenly–47 percent both ways–on whether the Iraq War is part of the 'war on terrorism.' The rest had no opinion."