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worldwideWAMM February 2007
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by Sharon Grimes, W A M M
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The November 2006 elections demonstrated that Americans are not happy with the war in Iraq.
An AP-Ipsos poll (conducted Jan. 8-10) shows that 70 percent of Americans oppose President Bush’s plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq.
Only 35 percent think it was right for the United States to go to war in the first place (a new low in AP polling) compared to two thirds who thought it was right two years ago.
Sixty percent think it is unlikely that a stable, democratic Iraqi government will be established.
Bush’s overall job approval rating is also at a new low of 32 percent.
87 percent of Democrats oppose sending more troops; 42 percent of Republicans oppose sending more troops; 52 percent of Republicans support the troop increase. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ id/16578451/, 1/11/07)
A poll of 6,000 active-duty personnel conducted by the Military Times newspapers also showed declining support for the war among the military. (http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/barron/46180, 1/1/07)
Only one in three active-duty service members approve of the way the president is handling the war.
A majority believe it was wrong to go into Iraq in the first place.
Only 41 percent said the U.S. should have gone to war (down from 65 percent in 2003.) That compares to 45 percent of the general population according to a recent USA TODAY-Gallup poll.
A plurality rejects the plan to send additional troops to Iraq.
More and more Republican legislators are joining Democratic legislators in opposing the war and Bush’s recently proposed escalation of the war. Of the 21 Republican senators up for reelection in 2008, so far four have come out in opposition. (NBC Nightly News, 1/11/07). They include Senators Gordon Smith, Norm Coleman, Sam Brownback, and John Sununu of New Hampshire and Norm Coleman of Minnesota. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia has also questioned the surge idea.
A number of moderate Republicans have criticized the plan. Only 12 of the 49 Republican senators are now willing to back Sen. John McCain’s call for sending more troops to Iraq. The only Democratic senator who supports the increase is Joseph Lieberman (CT). (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/31/AR2006123100931.html?sub=AR, 1/1/07)
Sen. Smith of Oregon, in a Dec. 7 speech at the close of last year’s session, said, “I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal.” (Star Tribune, 12/29/06)
Sen. Coleman, who visited Iraq in December, said he does not believe a troop increase is the answer. “I think it would create more targets. I think we would put more life at risk.” (http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/20/sen-norm-coleman-r-mn-opposes-iraq-escalation/, 12/20/06)
Sam Brownback (R-KS), who may run in the 2008 presidential election, said “I oppose the troop surge in Baghdad because it is not a strategy for victory.” (http://electroniciraq.net/news/ 2796.shtml, 1/11/07)
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), challenged Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice regarding the Bush plan. Hagel argued against the escalation plan during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing January 11. Rice responded that it was an augmentation, not an escalation. Hagel said the plan was “morally wrong” and “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder…since Vietnam. I will resist it.” (http://thinkprogress.org/, 1/11/07)
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) said he wants “real evidence that a potential surge in troops will do more good than harm and will not exacerbate the existing violence in Iraq.”
Among Minnesota’s legislators, only Reps. John Kline and Michele Bachmann support the increase. Rep. Ramstad said he agrees with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Generals Abizaid and Casey, and Colin Powell “That a U.S. troop surge, not limited to training Iraqi troops, would be counterproductive.” (Star Tribune, 1/9/07) |
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© 2007 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete February 2007 Index - click here
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