Many have now read of, and written about, the Zogby poll of troops in Iraq supposedly wanting to drop the fight in Iraq like a hot potato.

An overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year, and nearly one in four say the troops should leave immediately, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows.

How long should U.S. troops stay in Iraq?



"They should withdraw immediately" - 29.0%

"They should withdraw within the next six months" - 22.4%

"They should withdraw within six to twelve months" - 20.6%

"They should stay as long as they are needed" - 22.9%

"Not sure" - 5.0%

Now one can certainly question the methodology, or the motivation behind the poll, but thus far I haven't seen anyone really ask why the troops would answer in such fashion. I believe that the main flaw in the poll, is that it is not a 'public opinion' poll about a far away or abstract policy. It is a poll of the people who are carrying out that policy. The results of that poll are less likely to be about the policy, than about their unique personal circumstances.

For decades one of the time honored traditions of the U.S. military is for troops to complain about their circumstances. A grunt ain't happy if he ain't complaining....

So what happens when you take troops, who are deployed from their families for months on end (sometimes multiple times), living in field conditions, risk getting shot at, risk getting bombed, and oh did I mention being deployed from their families for months on end, and ask them when troops should leave Iraq? What happens is those troops are going to answer the question as if it were a personal question, not a policy one.

You might as well as ask "When do you think you should go home?" What do you think the answer is going to be? If you have been running patrol in Iraq for 9 months, you might take the opportunity to say (though in a tangental way) "Send my ass home now!" or "As soon as possible". If someone just started a tour in Iraq, they might be inclined to say "within 6-12 months", since that is when they will rotate.

Perhaps that is a bit simplistic, but is probably more realistic than saying that the troops are revolting against the policy of the Commander in Chief. And those on the left who might want to make hay about this poll should remember this....We in the military are professionals...we will carry out the orders of the President no matter what our personal beliefs about those orders or the policy behind them.

No poll numbers will ever reflect how seriously we take our duty to our country, especially when conducted by a press that has not the first concept about that duty.

Others:
Indepundit: Polling the Military
Murdoc Online
Officer's Club: Something's not right here...
Mystery Pollster
Gateway Pundit
Hugh Hewitt: Zogby's Folly 1 & 2