Kristof: Poll Finds U.S. Troops in Iraq Urge Pullout

By: E&P Staff A poll of U.S. troops currently serving in Iraq?reportedly the first of its kind?shows that 72% advocate a U.S. pullout within a year, with only 23% for staying as long ?as necessary,? reports Nicholas Kristof in his New York Times column today. Some 29% urge withdrawal ?immediately.?

Kristof recently came out for setting a deadline for withdrawal at the end of next year.

The poll of 944 service members was conducted by Zogby International and LeMoyne College. Recent Gallup and CBS News polls have shown that most Americans at home also advocate the beginning of a pullout.

Kristof calls the survey of soldiers ?one more bit of evidence that our grim stay-the-course policy in Iraq has failed. Even the American troops on the ground don't buy into it ? and having administration officials pontificate from the safety of Washington about the need for ordinary soldiers to stay the course further erodes military morale.?

Asked what it would take to ?control the insurgency,? those surveyed strongly suggest that it would take doubling the number of ground troops and bombing missions. But as Kristof points out, this is not going to happen at this point. The message he takes from this: ?they believe this war to be unwinnable.?

Further findings: only 26% percent of the U.S. troops say that the insurgency would end if foreign fighters could be kept out. Contrary to many press reports, a majority feel that they have been provided with adeuqate armor and other protection.

A check of the poll's methodology finds that it was conducted from mid-January to mid-February. Three quarters of the troops had served multiple tours. Those in the reserves and National Guard are strongest in favor of withdrawal, but 58% of Marines also back a pullout in the coming year.

?Will a timetable work?? Kristof asks. ?I don't know, but it's a better bet than our present policy of whistling in the dark. And it's what the troops favor ? and they're the ones who have Iraq combat experience. It's time our commander in chief stopped stage-managing his troops and listened to them.?