Troops Are Not So Different Than You

Surprise, surprise. Those of us in the military don't think so differently than you.

In a poll detailed today of those who served in Iraq or have a close friend or relative who served in Iraq, just 38 percent approve of the president's handling of the war. That's just slightly higher than the public at large.

These findings are really nothing new. A New York Times poll in May showed that Iraq veterans and their families disapproved of how the war was being handled by two-thirds. A Zogby poll showed back in 2006, 72 percent of troops on the ground thought we should redeploy from Iraq within a year.

For all the talk from the far right about how troops just want Congress to give the surge a chance, there's simply no evidence that it's the truth. I know from emails I trade with my friends still out in the field that morale is not good, and they aren't putting much hope into the president's plan. Last evening, I was at an event and met an Army Public Affairs Officer, and he was pretty honest when I asked what he was hearing from guys in the field. Our troops are overstretched and breaking, and it's affecting morale. He didn't hide the fact that we're having a pretty tough time retaining many of our smartest and most able officers. Very few troops are excited about the prospects of extending the surge until November, or for two years, or 50 years.

Republicans need to take note of these findings. For years, Republicans held the advantage in polls on which party was pro-military and pro-security. For the most part, those of us in the military were Republicans. That is becoming less true by the day. From Jim Webb to John Batiste, life-long Republicans are expressing frustration with the party if not, as in the case of Webb, becoming Democrats. Out of the seven Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans who ran for Congress in 2006, five were Democrats and two were Republicans. One of those Republicans, Sam Schultz, who VoteVets.org endorsed, ran in opposition to the president's handling of Iraq. Just one of seven Iraq vets running, then, actually supported the president.

There's a real paradigm shift that's happening within the military, because of the president's irresponsible, reckless, and dangerous policy. For Republicans, their overriding concern should be to do the right thing for America and the troops, by forcing about a responsible redeployment from Iraq. But, they should also recognize that an added bonus to that would be to show they are, indeed, pro-military. Because, sometimes, good policy does equal good politics.