Cori Dauber suggests that there is a narrative of the Iraq war in small town newspapers (like the Rocky Mountain News) that isn't present in the big MSM newspapers. The smaller ones are more interested in what their troops have to say; and for the most part it is positive. The NYSlime deliberately looks for upset or angry troops (and there will be those in any endeavor) and highlights them--just as they do Cindy Sheehan who hardly speaks for most military families. Here's Dauber's link.
CharlesJ | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 11:06 am | #

Cori and Charles have an excellent point. We need to think about how these small-town papers can be linked to information from the blogosphere, with appropriate re-publication rights.

It must be hard to do the right thing as an editor if your only non-local news source is the AP feed.
David Foster | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 11:13 am | #

Google This:

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

The poll, conducted in conjunction with Le Moyne College’s Center for Peace and Global Studies, showed that 29% of the respondents, serving in various branches of the armed forces, said the U.S. should leave Iraq “immediately,” while another 22% said they should leave in the next six months. Another 21% said troops should be out between six and 12 months, while 23% said they should stay “as long as they are needed.”
Vigilante | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 4:03 pm | #

I'm sure you only read the first two paragraphs, Vigilante. Here's the entire report in Stars and Stripes:link

The survey of 944 troops, conducted in Iraq between Jan. 18 and Feb. 14, said that only 23 percent of servicemembers thought U.S. forces should stay “as long as they are needed.”

Of the 72 percent, 22 percent said troops should leave within the next six months, and 29 percent said they should withdraw “immediately.” Twenty-one percent said the U.S. military presence should end within a year; 5 percent weren’t sure.

But policy experts differ on exactly what those numbers mean.

Justin Logan, a foreign policy analyst for the Cato Institute, called the figure alarming, and a sign that the Bush administration and troops in Iraq see the goals and the progress of the war very differently.

The president has opposed any plans for a withdrawal date, saying troops will remain until Iraq’s security is assured. Logan sees so many troops wanting a clear time line as showing “an alarming disconnect” between the policy and its implementation.

But Loren Thompson, a military analyst with the Lexington Institute, said troops who say the U.S. should withdraw could be concerned for their own safety, or they could be optimistic about progress so far, or they could simply be opposed to the idea of operations in Iraq.

“You have to pick apart each servicemember’s thought process to understand what that means,” he said. “I think this is about personal circumstances, and not proof there is a higher rate of troops who desire departure.”

Defense Department officials declined to comment on the poll, saying they did not have details on how the survey was conducted.

John Zogby, CEO of the polling company, said the poll was funded through Le Moyne College’s Center for Peace and Global Studies, which received money for the project from an anonymous, anti-war activist, but neither the activist nor the school had input on the content of the poll.

Zogby said the survey was conducted face-to-face throughout Iraq, with permission from commanders. Despite the difficulty of polling in a war zone, he said, pollsters were pleased with the results.

“This is a credible and representative look at what the troops are saying,” he said. “Clearly there are those [in the U.S.] who will speak for the troops, so there is a real value in seeing what they are actually saying.”

The poll also shows that 42 percent of the troops surveyed are unsure of their mission in Iraq, and that 85 percent believe a major reason they were sent into war was “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the Sept. 11 attacks.” Ninety-three percent said finding and destroying weapons of mass destruction is not a reason for the ongoing military action.

“We were surprised by that, especially the 85 percent [figure],” Zogby said. “Clearly that is much higher than the consensus among the American public, and the public’s perception [on that topic] is much higher than the actual reality of the situation.”

In terms of current operations, 80 percent of those polled said they did not hold a negative view of all Iraqis because of the ongoing attacks against coalition military forces.

More than 43 percent of those polled said their equipment, such as Humvees, body armor and munitions, is adequate for the jobs facing them, while 30 percent said it is not.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C. and chairman of the Victory in Iraq Caucus, a group of 118 Republican lawmakers, said the poll does not diminish his opinion of the importance of the armed forces role in Iraq.

“Whatever the percentages are, I know 100 percent of our troops want to complete their mission over there,” he said. “My view is, whatever the poll results say, the bottom line is these are troops who will continue their mission, because they would rather fight the enemy overseas than at home.”

Of those surveyed, 75 percent have served multiple tours in Iraq, 63 percent were under 30 years old, and 75 percent were male.
Jan | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 5:35 pm | #

Now that the Iraqis have a formal government and are recognized by the international community, I agree that it is time to simply support their efforts to control the violence in their country. Rumsfeld has said that he thinks the troop level can begin to come down soon. The reality is that the Iraqis themselves need to step up to handle security--as they are doing. That said, the poll suggests that the soldiers agree their job is basically done. Hopefully, we will keep a base in Iraq for future operations in the region, if necessary.
anonymous | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 5:41 pm | #

Nice story in the Rocky Mountain News. Much better than what is in my local fishwrap. One part irks me,
"The mayor patted his hand on his heart and made the peace sign as a crowd of soldiers and their families gave him a standing ovation.".
I know my 60's generation called it the "peace sign" but I would think the "V for Victory" is more what the Mayor had in mind.
Geoff | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 6:42 pm | #

I agree with you anonymous; your approach is commonsense. I might quibble with what "a base in Iraq" might mean to different folks, but I'm open to negotiation. Re the polls, I'm sorry to see so high a percentage of troops believing that they are in Iraq to get back at Saddam for his supposed role in 9/11. Even the captured cache of Iraqi documents that are still being analyzed don't show a high level of Iraqi involvement in Al Queda. Saddam and his secular thugs were too busy paying rewards to Palestinian suicide bomber families and generally destabilizing the region to accommodate bin Laden and his religious fanatics.
Athenawise | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 6:48 pm | #

> Saddam's not the only one who needs a reality check

Saddam's check needs to be cashed. His head may bounce, but I don't think it will...
Ohbloodyhell | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 9:00 pm | #

Statistical Manipulation 101
> More than 43 percent of those polled said their equipment, such as Humvees, body armor and munitions, is adequate for the jobs facing them, while 30 percent said it is not.

I wonder, for example, how many of that 30% meant that it was too heavy, too bulky, or otherwise too encumbering to be worn day in and day out -- something that requires technical developments, not more money spent on what is there.

I *KNOW* this is actually one complaint about it.

How you word things can vary the response an AWFUL lot. And when you just lump responses together with the "appropriate categories" then you can manipulate a picture quite utterly different from the one the responder might mean.

I'm not saying the other elements of this are inaccurate or even misleading -- I'm pointing out one area where I can easily see HOW it can be twisted -- and I seem to recall (perhaps incorrectly) that Zogby isn't well respected for unbiased polling.

I'd want to know a LOT more about the techniques, questions, and the way it was categorized into those results before I'd take it as all that accurate.

I'm curious what Yon and Fumento are going to say about it.
Ohbloodyhell | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 9:09 pm | #

> I'm sorry to see so high a percentage of troops believing that they are in Iraq to get back at Saddam for his supposed role in 9/11. Even the captured cache of Iraqi documents that are still being analyzed don't show a high level of Iraqi involvement in Al Queda.

I don't buy this one, really. As I understand it Salman Pak -- one of Saddam's *three* terrorist training camps -- is the >b>only one of the six pre-war terrorist training camps to have its own actual full airframe for practicing airliner takeover techniques. Given the number of airliners involved in this, is it really all that likely that they did not practice them thoroughly beforehand? That the proof hasn't been found is beside the point. At this point we're looking at a trout in the milk. It's not a smoking gun, but it damned sure smells like seven-day-old haddock.
Ohbloodyhell | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 9:14 pm | #

I wonder if Saddam is a fan of the Dixie Chicks.....

http://www.adelphia.net/news/ rea...LARSDCCLM_UNEWS
Virago | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 9:15 pm | #

Goodpost, Doc!
I also tend to ignore polls, unless I know the questions, and who was asked (in this case, reservists or active duty), and why the answers were given.
944 is a very small sample of 130,000.
OBH is right. Polls are easily manipulated.
Ben USN (Ret) | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 9:48 pm | #

Rabbi Ayreh Spero offers a reality check to whining Democrats here .
onlineanalyst | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 11:15 pm | #

The link to the article didn't come through. Here it is: http://www.humaneventsonline.com...le.php? id=14860
onlineanalyst | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 11:16 pm | #

Good read, OA! Thanks!
Ben USN (Ret) | Email | Homepage | 05.21.06 - 11:45 pm | #

Um, wasn't Zogby one of the pollsters that had John Kerry as the winner of the last presidential election?


Yeah, they are highly accurate pollsters.


All one has to do is start surfing the milblogs to get the picture.



.
The Machine | Email | Homepage | 05.22.06 - 3:34 pm | #

Saddam better learn the lesson.

Just because you're the leader of a nation at war with Islamofacists, it doesn't mean you can do anything you want in the name of protecting your people.
Robert | Email | Homepage | 05.22.06 - 6:11 pm | #

Actually, we CAN Robert!
BWAHAHAHAHA!!
Ben USN (Ret) | Email | Homepage | 05.23.06 - 4:25 am | #

Virago,

This bit in the report made my gut turn:

For band member Martie Maguire, the controversy was a blessing in disguise.

"I'd rather have a small following of really cool people who get it, who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith," Maguire said. "We don't want those kinds of fans. They limit what you can do."

What utter chutzpah!
PlasticBananas | Email | Homepage | 05.23.06 - 4:51 pm | #