VoteVets.org: Representing The Voice of the Troops

Did you get the memo? President Bush’s failed strategy in Iraq has led to a stronger al Qaeda that is plotting the next 9/11. Our own intelligence says they are rebuilding and strongest in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not Iraq. Our troops get it. Every year, more and more troops disapprove of how the war in Iraq has been handled, with strong majorities saying President Bush’s handling of the war has been a failure, and saying there is not a military solution for Iraq. VoteVets.org is the only Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans organization that accurately mirrors the message troops are sending. We speak like the troops, because we are the troops.

It’s time to go on the offense and protect America, by focusing our efforts on killing and capturing those who did us harm on September 11, and are planning on doing it again. The only way to do that is to begin to responsibly get out of Iraq, refit and rearm, and take the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, who are plotting the next 9/11 right now.

Poll of Military: U.S. military stretched dangerously thin by war - The U.S. military has been stretched dangerously thin by the Iraq war, according to almost 90 percent of retired and current military officers polled on the state of America's armed forces.  Eighty percent said it would be unreasonable to expect the U.S. military to wage another major war successfully at this time, according to the poll by the Center for a New American Security think tank and Foreign Policy magazine.  Eighty-eight percent of respondents said the U.S. military had been stretched dangerously thin by Iraq. Sixty percent said the military was weaker than five years ago. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080219/ts_nm/usa_military_survey_dc)

POLL OF TROOPS AND FAMILIES SHOWS LITTLE SUPPORT FOR BUSH, IRAQ WAR – You wouldn’t know it from those who say from some of those who say they speak for the troops, but a poll of them from the LA Times and Bloomberg news finds that the vast majority of troops and military families have abandoned the President and are highly critical of the war in Iraq.  The poll is yet more demonstrable proof that VoteVets.org is the voice of the troops.  The poll finds that only 36 percent of troops and military families say it was worth going to war in Iraq and 37 percent of military-family members approve of the job Bush is doing as president.  “The same trend holds true on the question of the treatment of active-duty military, veterans and their families. The poll finds that only 29 percent of all poll respondents say they believe the Bush administration is doing a good job handling those needs,” reports Bloomberg.  The poll finally finds that the majority of troops and military families believe it is proper to criticize the President during a time of war.  (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a9eBP4ZM28G8&refer=home)

OUR OWN INTELLIGENCE IS WARNING US AL QAEDA IS PLOTTING NEW ATTACKS FROM AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN, NOT IRAQ – The most recent National Intelligence Estimate makes it clear. The real threat from al Qaeda comes from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yet, our troops are being held in the middle of Iraq’s religious civil war, when strong majorities of them do not believe the Bush administration is doing well in Iraq.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071702007.html)

TROOP BUILDUP FAILS TO RECONCILE IRAQ – The Los Angeles Times reports, “The U.S. military buildup that was supposed to calm Baghdad and other trouble spots has failed to usher in national reconciliation, as the capital's neighborhoods rupture even further along sectarian lines, violence shifts elsewhere and Iraq's government remains mired in political infighting.” While military officials claim that sectarian violence is down, it is not. Pentagon officials say, on average, 1000 Iraqis have died per month since the start of the surge, compared to 1200 before. However, that number does not take into account car bombings, which increasingly are becoming the attack mode of choice for insurgents. There have been 2600 deaths due to car bombings this year. When those are taken into account, the number of deaths is slightly higher since the surge. While government officials point to blocks in Baghdad that are secure, overall, there has been no reconciliation or movement towards it, in Iraq. Said one Marine, “I don't know anyone who said, 'Let's have an argument on whether 20,000 troops can have an impact on some neighborhoods… I heard a debate about whether a 20,000-man surge would appreciably enhance the security of the Iraqi people and end the sectarian violence so political reconciliation could occur across the country, not just in Baghdad neighborhoods.” (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-surge4sep04,0,3817546.story?coll=la-home-center)

TWELVE CAPTAINS WHO SERVED IN IRAQ WRITE AN OP-ED WITH THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH – Though the Bush administration would tell you otherwise, those on the ground have not seen progress in Iraq since the surge.  In October, twelve former Army captains penned an oped on what they saw in Iraq.  They write, “As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we've seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it's like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it's time to get out…  Against this backdrop, the U.S. military has been trying in vain to hold the country together. Even with "the surge," we simply do not have enough soldiers and marines to meet the professed goals of clearing areas from insurgent control, holding them securely and building sustainable institutions. Though temporary reinforcing operations in places like Fallujah, An Najaf, Tal Afar, and now Baghdad may brief well on PowerPoint presentations, in practice they just push insurgents to another spot on the map and often strengthen the insurgents' cause by harassing locals to a point of swayed allegiances.”
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101500841.html)

GI’S MORALE DIPS AS THE WAR DRAGS ON; 45 PERCENT OF TROOPS SAY MORALE IS LOW OR VERY LOW, ONLY SEVEN PERCENT SAY IT IS HIGH OR VERY HIGH – The Los Angeles Times reports that morale is sinking to new lows among troops in the field, who do not see the progress that is being claimed on the homefront. In its poll of those on the ground in Iraq, only seven percent said morale was high or very high, with a stunning six-plus times that saying morale was low or very low. Reports the paper, “Some say two wars are being fought here: the one the enlisted men see, and the one that senior officers and politicians want the world to see. "I don't see any progress. Just us getting killed," said Spc. Yvenson Tertulien, one of those in the dining hall in Yousifiya, 10 miles south of Baghdad, as Bush's speech aired last month. "I don't want to be here anymore."… "There are two different wars," said Staff Sgt. Donald Richard Harris, comparing his soldiers' views with those of commanders in distant bases. "It's a dead-end process, it seems like."
(http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-morale25aug251,7614004.story?page=1&ctrack=5&cset=true&coll=la-news-a_section)

OFFICERS IN IRAQ, INDEPENDENT FINDINGS, SAY PROGRESS NOT MADE, U.S. AND IRAQI DEATHS HAVE NOT DECREASED DURING THE SURGE IN IRAQ – NOT EVEN IN BAGHDAD – Despite claims by those who support the failed policy of the Bush administration in Iraq, U.S. officers in Baghdad offer a “bleak” view of the situation in Baghdad, which is often cited as an area the surge is showing results. According to McClatchy Newspapers, officers say “they’ve yet to see any signs of reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.” Additionally, since the surge, “U.S. casualties reach[ed] the highest sustained levels since the United States invaded Iraq nearly four and a half years ago.” As far as claims that fewer Iraqis have died since the surge, the news reports, “The number of car bombings in July actually was 5 percent higher than the number recorded last December, according to the McClatchy statistics, and the number of civilians killed in explosions is about the same.” (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/NEWS07/708150368/1009)

SEVEN INFANTRYMEN AND NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS IN IRAQ SAY SURGE IS NOT MAKING A DIFFERENCE – In a much talked about New York Times op-ed, seven members of the 82nd Airborne in Iraq say that the surge is not making a difference overall, Iraq is not moving closer to political reconciliation, and it’s time to let Iraqis handle their own matters and help from the margins. Wrote the soldiers, “Viewed from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal… To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched... We are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command).” (http://www.voteveterans.org/tools/campaignpages/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=347&Itemid=80)

NEW YORK TIMES / CBS POLL OF TROOPS – Two-thirds of troops and their families think things are going badly in Iraq. This represents a dramatic increase from just a year prior. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/us/15protest.html?ex=1342152000&en=6e4cb58c017faf39&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&)

MILITARY TIMES POLL OF TROOPS – Only a third of troops approve of the President’s handling of the war in Iraq, which represents crumbling support from past polls. Nearly 75 percent say the military has been stretched too thin by President Bush. Those troops who think there can be a military success in Iraq has plunged by 30 percent. (http://www.militarycity.com/polls/2006_main.php)

ZOGBY POLL OF TROOPS – A Zogby International Poll found that 72 percent of troops on the ground in Iraq thought the US should get out within a year, in 2006. (http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1075)