From Rasmussen:
A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 59% of Americans would like to see U.S. troops brought home from Iraq within a year. That number is down four points from two weeks ago and two points from four weeks ago. Over the last twenty-three weeks, the number wanting troops home within a year has ranged from a low of 57% to a high of 64%.
Twenty-three percent (23%) now want the troops brought home immediately. That number is down six points from the last survey.
Those who live by the poll, die by the poll (to paraphrase a bit) – and our lefty friends have been sustained by poll after poll showing President Bush to be unpopular. Well, my view of polls is well known – they can be useful, but all of them are a mere snapshot in time. Still, it can’t be doubted that this poll is going to drive our lefties nuts:
The tiny minority who see President Bush as evil and the war as being for oil/Israel/Likud/Halliburton/Insert Conspiracy Theory Here are that 23% in the poll – the rest of America is ready to see us there for at least another year, or even longer (36% home within a year, 35% to stay indefinitely). Could be that by November, HillBama’s defeatism is an albatross ’round their neck.
Blogs For Victory 
“The tiny minority who see President Bush as evil…..”
Hilarious, thanks for making my morning…
Sorry to disappoint, Mark. This poll doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The “home within a year” question is one that has been been appearing for years in the polling. For example, the same Rasmussen polling (from the same page as your source) shows that in August of last year 33% of those polled wanted U.S. forces out of Iraq within a year. That combined with the 30% that wanted us out immediately meant that just seven months ago 63% of Americans wanted us out of Iraq by August of this year. In fact, the numbers have been pretty stable for all three of the options presented which suggests that you have three stable groups.
One group supports an open-ended occupation. Many of those, if not most, are those, like you and so many others here, that are obsessed with your fears of perceived weakness and defeat as though you were personally at risk. Another group is in favor of withdrawing. This group is the most committed of the consistent majority (over years now) that see the United States invasion of Iraq as a mistake. Finally, there is a group that completes the majority of Americans who have long since concluded that we were wrong to invade, but who feel varying degrees of responsibility under the “pottery barn rule”. Given American’s general sense of decency, this isnt’t really surprising.
So, contrary to your bogus headline, American public opinion continues to be stable on this issue. The overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of President Bush and the Republican Party’s handling of the Iraq situation. The majority trust Democrats to do a better job of handling the question of what to do in Iraq and the overwhelming majority see the last five years in Iraq as a mistake. No amount of disingenuous headline-writing on your part can make those realities go away. Sorry about that.
plus if you want to see polls that do evolve with time…
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/18/iraq/main3946663.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3946663
but you will not like that trend.
Mark, This is how you mark the 5th year anniversary of this debacle? By distorting a poll?
Cheney in Iraq:
How many billions have we spent on this and we are no further along than we were 3 years ago. But Cheney is pleased with the war…
And no…. this Administration has NEVER tried linking Sadaam and 9/11.
Let’s not forget we are now approaching the 4000th military death in Iraq. Let’s hope we don’t reach that number, but there is only one way to stop it from happening.
Meanwhile, the Administration and the GOP may cheerfully go on executing their plan, which can be succinctly expressed as, “To hell with what the majority of Americans want. We’re going to do what WE want.” That worked really well in November 2006 and I know a lot of Republican members of Congress are very pleased to know that they get to run that play again in a few months.
Mark,
Since you are quoting the poll here apparently to prove some sort of point. How do you feel about the point that the “survey found that 59% of Americans would like to see U.S. troops brought home from Iraq within a year.”
Does Bush have a plan to get us out within the year? I’m all for it.
Another Rasmussen Poll….
Next
This is potentially disastrous news for the Republican brand:
President Bush and the Republicans are stuck with the current economic mess heading into the election and now the public is linking it with the last five years of pouring money down the Iraq drain. If that holds, Katie bar the door.
To care about polls or not to care about polls.
Dick Cheney on ABC’s Good Morning America:
How about a trip down memory lane? Cue Ted Koppel and Andrew Natsios, then-director of USAID from April 23, 2003 on Nightline:
Sheer arrogant incompetence or full-blown lying? You decide.
Diana, can I vote for both arrogant incompetence AND full-blown lying?
Good question, Joe. However, I’m inclined to think it’s only one or the other for poor Mr. Natsios.
I’m leaning towards Full-blown lying, but only in fairness to the Universities that he graduated from (Georgetown and Harvard). Producing a graduate capable of such blatant arrogance and incompetence would destroy the credibility of these institutions.
The term “defeatism” doesn’t really apply to the Iraq war since it has already been won. You cannot be defeated in a war that you have already won.
Am I missing something?
Yes SteaM. you are missing that they haven’t updated their bumperstickers yet.
I think the new definition of a scoundrel is trying to compare yourself favorably with our 16th president:
Thank you, Mr. 22% Approval Rating.
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y’all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
Ohhh, war, I despise
Because it means destruction
Of innocent lives
War means tears
To thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go to fight
And lose their lives
I said, war, huh
Good God, y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain’t nothing
But a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Ooooh, war
It’s an enemy to all mankind
The point of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest
Within the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die
Aaaaah, war-huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it, say it, say it
War, huh
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y’all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War, it’s got one friend
That’s the undertaker
Ooooh, war, has shattered
Many a young mans dreams
Made him disabled, bitter and mean
Life is much to short and precious
To spend fighting wars these days
War can’t give life
It can only take it away
Ooooh, war, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Peace, love and understanding
Tell me, is there no place for them today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there’s got to be a better way
Ooooooh, war, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
You tell me
Say it, say it, say it, say it
War, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Stand up and shout it
Nothing
Neoclown,
Not necessarily. War is a great diversion for the strong and Churchillian members of the 101st Fighting Keyboarder Division.
Totaling the damage
The Cost to Our Forces in Iraq
3,990: American troops who have died in Iraq since the start of the war. [icasualties.org, 3/17/08]
29,395: Number of U.S. service members that have been wounded in hostile action since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq. [AP, 3/11/08]
60,000: Number of troops that have been subjected to controversial stop-loss measures–meaning those who have completed service commitments but are forbidden to leave the military until their units return from war. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]
5: Number of times the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment has been sent to Iraq. They are the first Marine Corps unit to be sent to Iraq for a fifth time. [San Francisco Chronicle, 2/27/08]
2,100: Number of troops who tried to commit suicide or injure themselves increased from 350 in 2002 to 2,100 last year. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]
11.9: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their first Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08]
27.2: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their third or fourth Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08]
The Cost to Our Military Readiness
88: Percent of current and former U.S. military officers surveyed in a recent independent study who believe that the demands of the war in Iraq have “stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin” [Foreign Policy/Center for New American Security, 2/19/08]
94: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2003 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07]
79: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2007 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07]
4,644: Number of new Army recruits who were granted moral waivers in Fiscal Year 2003. [Houston Chronicle, 10/14/07]
12,057: Number of new Army recruits who were granted moral waivers in Fiscal Year 2007. [Houston Chronicle, 10/14/07]
67: Percent of captains the Army managed to retain this year, short of its goal of 80 percent, and in spite of cash bonus incentives of up to $35,000 [Armed Services Committee Hearing, 2/26/08]
The Cost to Our National Security
1,188: Number of global terrorist incidents from January – September 11th, 2001. [American Security Project, “Are We Winning?,” September 2007]
5,188: Number of global terrorist incidents in from January- September 11th, 2006. [American Security Project, “Are We Winning?,” September 2007]
30: Percent increase in violence in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. [Reuters, 10/15/07]
21: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2001. [Center for American Progress, “The Forgotten Front,” 11/07]
139: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2006, with an additional increase of 69 percent as of November 2007. [Center for American Progress, “The Forgotten Front,” 11/07]
30: Percent of Afghanistan controlled by the Afghan Government according to DNI Mike McConnell. [Associated Press, 2/27/08]
2,380: Days since September 11th, 2001 that Osama Bin Laden has been at-large.
The Cost of Funding the War in Iraq
$50-60 Billion: Bush Administration’s pre-war estimates of the cost of the war. [New York Times, 12/31/02]
$12 Billion: Direct cost per month of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08]
$526 Billion: Amount of money already appropriated by Congress for the War in Iraq. [CRS, 2/22/08]
$3 Trillion: Total estimated cost of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08]
$5 Trillion – $7 Trillion: Total cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accounting for continued military operations, growing debt and interest payments and continuing health care and counseling costs for veterans. [McClatchy, 2/27/08]
160: Percent that the cost of the Iraq War has increased from 2004 to 2008. [CRS Report, 2/22/08]
The Cost to Iraqis and Journalists
8,000: Number of Iraqi military and police killed since June 2003. [Brookings Institute, Iraq Index, March 13, 2008]
82,000-89,000: Estimate of Iraqi civilians casualties from violence since the beginning of the Iraq War. [Iraq Body Count]
4.5 Million: Number of Iraqi refugees both inside and outside the country. [Washington Post, 3/17/08]
61: Percent of Iraqis that believe the U.S. military presence makes the security situation in Iraq worse. [Agence France-Presse, 3/17/08]
127: Number of journalists killed in Iraq since March 2003. [Committee to Protect Journalists]
Economic Costs of War in Iraq
$33.51: Cost of a barrel of oil in March 2003. [Energy Information Administration]
$105.68: Cost of a barrel of oil on March 17, 2008. [NYMEX]
U.S. Troops and Contractors in Iraq
132,000: Number of U.S. troops in Iraq in January 2007, before President Bush’s escalation. [Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 3/13/08]
155,000: Number of U.S. troops currently in Iraq. [Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 3/13/08]
140,000: Number of U.S. troops projected to be in Iraq in July 2008. [Associated Press, 2/26/08]
35,000: Number of private security contractors operating in Iraq. [Human Rights First, Private Security Contractors at War]
180,000: Number of private contractors operating in Iraq. [Human Rights First, Private Security Contractors at War]
Progress Towards Political Reconciliation Made By Iraqis
3: Number out of 18 Bush Administration Benchmarks Met by Iraqi Government As of January 24, 2008. [Center for American Progress, 1/24/08]
18: Number of provinces President Bush said would be secured by Iraqis as of November 2007. [President Bush Speech, 1/10/07]
8: Number of provinces actually secured by Iraqis as of January 2008. [NPR, 1/7/08]
Bush-Republican Intransigence on Staying the Course in Iraq
8: Number of times a majority of the Senate has voted to change course in Iraq.
7: Number of times Bush Republicans in Congress have blocked changing course in Iraq.
1: Number of vetoes issued by the White House over changing course in Iraq.
Thanks for that Aaron. I was starting to look for something that gave all the numbers.
But hey… it was a “successful endeavor” according to Cheney.
Good grief. Is it almost over?
It’ll be over for you when the Islamofascists kill you and your loved ones.
Aaron,
Also remember george has redefined what war wounded and war dead means. That way he can keep the numbers down to the 3990 instead of the possible 7000 or more troops who have really died due to war related injuries.
It’ll be over for you when the Islamofascists kill you and your loved ones.
21. Macker | March 19th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
The incoherent responses from you and the other shock & awe supporters just show how desperate you have become in trying to defend the indefensible.
In scrambling for rebuttal points you continue to fall back on issuing threats of annihilation by islamofascists and in doing so fail to realize that the Chicken Little defence no longer works.
It’s time for the crew to put their heads together and work up a new agenda of fear.
‘It’ll be over for you when the Islamofascists kill you and your loved ones.’
Ah there it is the classic case of personal conservative cowardice, that is what it’s all about. The islamofascisticists WILL KILL US ALL!!!!!!! WE MUST NUKE THE MIDDLE EAST NOW!!!!!!!!! Or I might wet my bed again.