Support The Troops!!

At long last, someone has endeavored to find out what our troops serving in Iraq think about the situation. Anyone who adorns their vehicle, home or body with or who utters the phrase "Support the troops" should pay very close attention to this poll. The results are both telling and appalling.


72 percent believe the United States should exit Iraq within a year. Only 23 percent agree with Bush that US troops should stay in Iraq "as long as it takes." Even among our Marines, who were the least likely to support troop withdrawal within a year, a majority, 58%, think withdrawal is the best course of action.

A whopping 85% said the main US mission was "to retaliate for Saddam's role in the 9/11 attacks." This is appalling because Saddam had absolutely no role in the Sept. 11 attacks -- and more than anyone, our troops should be fully informed as to the true nature of their mission. Further, 77 percent said that the reason for the Iraq war was/is "to stop Saddam from protecting Al-Qaeda in Iraq." This is appalling because there was no Al-Qaeda in Iraq until we toppled Saddam's regime, laying Iraq's borders wide open for them to cross.

As appalling as these numbers are, they are also telling because our troops honestly believe these things with every fiber of their beings. They're fighting for what I've said, all along, that they're fighting for -- America. Not for Iraqi democracy, not to find WMDs, not for cheaper oil, but FOR AMERICA. This isn't A just and noble cause, it's THE just and noble cause... a cause our troops would NEVER dismiss lightly. Yet, a majority of our troops STILL think Iraq is such a lost cause that it's time to pull out. That says more about how bad and how hopeless the situation is over there than any activist, pundit, blogger, politician or news journalist has even scratched the surface of conveying to us.

If you want to support our troops and don't know what to do (something I've heard a lot of people say, over these last few years,) you can follow my link to the poll, find out what our troops think, print out copies, run a highlighter over the most important findings, write a note in the margin if you like, and send it to your Senators, Representative and President. Write letters to the editors of newspapers in your area, citing the poll results.

When benefits are cut to our troops, their families and our veterans... speak up about it. Blog on it, post to appropriate forums about it, send letters to Washington, organize protests. Make some noise!! If they can fight for us, surely we can fight for them.