Hey, What Are We Fightin' For? - Survey of U.S. Troops In Iraq Provides Some Surprising Answers

Jonathan Tasini is a Democrat who is running a little-noticed anti-war campaign for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat.

In Tasini's daily blog on his campaign website, the candidate makes the point that the troops want to come home:

"Now, a new poll of U.S. troops serving in Iraq shows that 29% of the troops
think that we should pull out immediately. And 72% think we should be out
within one year."

A couple of problems here. No. 1: the poll taker is not identified. No. 2: I guess the poll indicates the troops REALLY, REALLY want to come home. If you add 29% and 72% you find that a total of 101% of those polled think they should be out sometime in the next year. Hmm, that is unanimity.

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For a profile on Tasini and what his campaign is all about, see the Feb. 8 posting about him in our archives.

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Here's what the poll mentioned above, and put out today by Le Moyne College in conjunction with Zogby, really says:

A total of 72% of U.S. troops in Iraq who were questioned say the U.S. should be out of Iraq within a year, with 29% saying the pullout should begin immediately. Twenty-three percent of the troops said the U.S. should stay in Iraq "as long as needed." A whopping 90% think the job they have undertaken in Iraq is “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11 attacks.” The service personnel, to the tune of 77%, said another main reason for their being in Iraq was to "stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq."