| Written by Alex Newman |
| Monday, 19 September 2011 17:50 |
The results of an annual survey of U.S. troops shows the already-dismal approval rates for President Obama’s performance dropped to just 25 percent among the military respondents. Support for his strategy in Afghanistan plummeted further, and less than one fourth of those surveyed said they approved of American intervention in Libya.| There was one bright spot, however. When asked about plans to withdraw all American soldiers from Iraq by the end of the year, 70 percent of respondents either approved or “strongly” approved. Only 43 percent said “yes” when asked whether the U.S. should have invaded in the first place. And about 4 in 10 approved of Obama’s handling of the war in Iraq — about the same amount of support as in last year’s survey. Despite strong backing for a complete withdrawal from Iraq this year, however, the Military Times poll results released last week showed U.S. soldiers are generally becoming more pessimistic. And the trend is accelerating. The percentage of respondents who would recommend a military career to others dropped by ten percent over last year’s numbers. And confidence in the prospect of victory in America’s decade-long war in the so-called “graveyard of empires” took an even greater plunge. While in 2007 more than 75 percent thought success in the Afghan war was likely, this year less than half of respondents did. And among soldiers who had served there, the number was even lower. Support for the President’s strategy in Afghanistan declined by about ten percent, too. In 2010, more than 35 percent approved of Obama’s handling of the mission. This year barely a quarter did. Several reasons have been offered to explain what the Air Force Times called the “souring mood” of American servicemen. Widespread corruption in the U.S.-backed Afghan regime, for example, is widely known to be a big problem. The fact that loyalty to the former Islamic rulers-turned insurgents remains high among Afghan officials and tribal chiefs is reportedly one of the biggest concerns as well. “Everybody knows that a majority of them still have ties with the Taliban,” a 31-year-old Army sergeant in Afghanistan told the Times, requesting anonymity. An Army Captain who helped train Afghan forces expressed similar worries, saying that many of them would simply fight for the next power that came along whenever the U.S. occupation comes to an end. He also asked the Times not to publish his name. Beyond that, however, even the definition of “victory” in Afghanistan has become elusive. In fact, it has shifted multiple times since the occupation began... read more>> |
