>Status: U >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 01:41:40 EDT >Subject: U.S. Troops in Iraq Gather to Watch 'Fahrenheit 9/11'; >Anti-Bush sentiment growing >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-ELNK-AV: 0 > > >September 21st, 2004 5:43 pm >U.S. Troops in Iraq Gather to Watch 'Fahrenheit 9/11'; Anti-Bush sentiment >growing > > >by Ann Scott Tyson / Christian Science Monitor > >Inside dusty, barricaded camps around Iraq, groups of American troops in >between missions are gathering around screens to view an unlikely >choice from the >US box office: "Fahrenheit 9-11," Michael Moore's controversial documentary >attacking the commander-in-chief. > >"Everyone's watching it," says a Marine corporal at an outpost in Ramadi that >is mortared by insurgents daily. "It's shaping a lot of people's image of >Bush." > >The film's prevalence is one sign of a discernible countercurrent among US >troops in Iraq - those who blame President Bush for entangling them >in what they >see as a misguided war. Conventional wisdom holds that the troops are >staunchly pro-Bush, and many are. But bitterness over long, >dangerous deployments is >producing, at a minimum, pockets of support for Democratic candidate Sen. John >Kerry, in part because he's seen as likely to withdraw American forces from >Iraq more quickly. > >"[For] 9 out of 10 of the people I talk to, it wouldn't matter who ran >against Bush - they'd vote for them," said a US soldier in the >southern city of >Najaf, seeking out a reporter to make his views known. "People are >so fed up with >Iraq, and fed up with Bush." > >With only three weeks until an Oct. 11 deadline set for hundreds of thousands >of US troops abroad to mail in absentee ballots, this segment of the military >vote is important - symbolically, as a reflection on Bush as a wartime >commander, and politically, as absentee ballots could end up tipping >the balance in >closely contested states. > >It is difficult to gauge the extent of disaffection with Bush, which emerged >in interviews in June and July with ground forces in central, northern, and >southern Iraq. No scientific polls exist on the political leanings >of currently >deployed troops, military experts and officials say. > >To be sure, broader surveys of US military personnel and their spouses in >recent years indicate they are more likely to be conservative and >Republican than >the US civilian population - but not overwhelmingly so. > >A Military Times survey last December of 933 subscribers, about 30 percent of >whom had deployed for the Iraq war, found that 56 percent considered >themselves Republican - about the same percentage who approved of >Bush's handling of >Iraq. Half of those responding were officers, who as a group tend to be more >conservative than their enlisted counterparts. > >Among officers, who represent roughly 15 percent of today's 1.4 million >active duty military personnel, there are about eight Republicans for every >Democrat, according to a 1999 survey by Duke University political >scientist Peter >Feaver. Enlisted personnel, however - a disproportionate number of whom are >minorities, a population that tends to lean Democratic - are more >evenly split. >Professor Feaver estimates that about one third of enlisted troops are >Republicans, one third Democrats, and the rest independents, with >the latter group >growing. > >Pockets of ambivalence > >"The military continues to be a Bush stronghold, but it's not a >stranglehold," Feaver says. Three factors make the military vote >more in play for Democrats >this year than in 2000, he says: the Iraq war, Defense Secretary Donald >Rumsfeld's tense relationship with the Army, and Bush's limited ability as an >incumbent to make sweeping promises akin to Senator Kerry's pledge >to add 40,000 >new troops and relieve an overstretched force. > >"The military as a whole supports the Iraq war," Mr. Feaver says, noting a >historical tendency of troops to back the commander in chief in wartime. "But >you can go across the military and find pockets where they are more >ambivalent," >he says, especially among the National Guard and Reserve. "The war has not >gone as swimmingly as they thought, and that has caused disaffection. > >Whether representing pockets of opposition to Bush or something bigger, >soldiers and marines on Iraq's front lines can be impassioned in >their criticism. >One Marine officer in Ramadi who had lost several men said he was thinking >about throwing his medals over the White House wall. > >"Nobody I know wants Bush," says an enlisted soldier in Najaf, adding, "This >whole war was based on lies." Like several others interviewed, his animosity >centered on a belief that the war lacked a clear purpose even as it took a >tremendous toll on US troops, many of whom are in Iraq involuntarily >under "stop >loss" orders that keep them in the service for months beyond their scheduled >exit in order to keep units together during deployments. > >"There's no clear definition of why we came here," says Army Spc. Nathan >Swink, of Quincy, Ill. "First they said they have WMD and nuclear >weapons, then it >was to get Saddam Hussein out of office, and then to rebuild Iraq. I want to >fight for my nation and for my family, to protect the United States against >enemies foreign and domestic, not to protect Iraqi civilians or deal >with Sadr's >militia," he said. > >Specialist Swink, who comes from a family of both Democrats and Republicans, >plans to vote for Kerry. "Kerry protested the war in Vietnam. He is the one to >end this stuff, to lead to our exit of Iraq," he said. > >'We shouldn't be here' > >Other US troops expressed feelings of guilt over killing Iraqis in a war they >believe is unjust. > >"We shouldn't be here," said one Marine infantryman bluntly. "There was no >reason for invading this country in the first place. We just came here and >[angered people] and killed a lot of innocent people," said the >marine, who has >seen regular combat in Ramadi. "I don't enjoy killing women and children, it's >not my thing." > >As with his comrades, the marine accepted some of the most controversial >claims of "Fahrenheit 9/11," which critics have called biased. "Bush >didn't want >to attack [Osama] Bin Laden because he was doing business with Bin Laden's >family," he said. > >Another marine, Sgt. Christopher Wallace of Pataskala, Ohio, agreed that the >film was making an impression on troops. "Marines nowadays want to know stuff. >They want to be informed, because we'll be voting out here soon," he said. " >'Fahrenheit 9/11' opened our eyes to things we hadn't seen before." But, he >added after a pause, "We still have full faith and confidence in our >commander-in-chief. And if John Kerry is elected, he will be our >commander in chief." > >Getting out the military vote > >No matter whom they choose for president, US troops in even the most remote >bases in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere overseas are more likely >than in 2000 >to have an opportunity to vote - and have their votes counted - thanks to a >major push by the Pentagon to speed and postmark their ballots. The >Pentagon is >now expediting ballots for all 1.4 million active-duty military personnel and >their 1.3 million voting-age dependents, as well as 3.7 million US civilians >living abroad. > >"We wrote out a plan of attack on how we are going to address these issues >this election year," says Maj. Lonnie Hammack, the lead postal officer for US >Central Command, an area covering the Middle East, Central Asia, and North >Africa, where more than 225,000 troops and Defense Department personnel serve. > >The military has added manpower, flights, and postmark-validating equipment, >and given priority to moving ballots - by Humvee or helicopter if necessary - >even to far-flung outposts such as those on the Syrian and Pakistani border >and Djibouti. > >Meanwhile, voting-assistance officers in every military unit are remind- ing >troops to vote, as are posters, e-mails, and newspaper and television >announcements. Voting booths are also set up at deployment centers >in the United >States. > >"We've had almost 100 percent contact," says Col. Darrell Jones, director of >manpower and personnel for Central Command, and 200,000 federal postcard >ballot applications have been shipped. > >"We encourage our people to vote, not for a certain candidate, but to >exercise that right," he said, noting that was especially important as the US >military is "out there promoting fledgling democracy in these >regions." Many of the >younger troops may be voting for the first time, he added. > > > > >
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