It’s Bush, Not Kerry, That The Troops Really Dislike

The right wing bloggers have had to resort to falsely claiming that Kerry’s joke about Bush was about the troops and fabricating a story that the troops were avoiding Kerry in Iraq by using a photo of Kerry giving a private newspaper interview in order to claim that Kerry and the troops did not like each other. The reality is that the troops are increasingly opposing George Bush’s policies. Military Times reports:

The American military — once a staunch supporter of President Bush and the Iraq war — has grown in creasingly pessimistic about chances for victory.

For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president’s han dling of the war than approve of it. Barely one-third of service members approve of the way the president is handling the war, ac cording to the 2006 Military Times Poll.

When the military was feeling most optimistic about the war — in 2004 — 83 percent of poll re spondents thought success in Iraq was likely. This year, that number has shrunk to 50 percent.

Only 35 percent of the military members polled this year said they approve of the way President Bush is handling the war, while 42 percent said they disapproved. The president’s approval rating among the military is only slight ly higher than for the population as a whole. In 2004, when his popularity peaked, 63 percent of the military approved of Bush’s handling of the war. While ap proval of the president’s war lead ership has slumped, his overall approval remains high among the military.

Just as telling, in this year’s poll only 41 percent of the military said the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place, down from 65 percent in 2003. That closely reflects the beliefs of the general population today — 45 percent agreed in a recent USA Today/Gallup poll.

Professor David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Mil itary Organization at the Univer sity of Maryland, was not sur prised by the changing attitude within the military.

“They’re seeing more casualties and fatalities and less progress,” Segal said.

Renegade Glaciers Attacking As Al Gore Warned

Reuters reports on a huge ice shelf breaking free in northern Canada:

A chunk of ice bigger than the area of Manhattan broke from an ice shelf in Canada’s far north and could wreak havoc if it starts to float westward toward oil-drilling regions and shipping lanes next summer, a researcher said on Friday.

Global warming could be one cause of the break of the Ayles Ice Shelf at Ellesmere Island, which occurred in the summer of 2005 but was only detected recently by satellite photos, said Luke Copland, assistant professor at the University of Ottawa’s geography department.

It’s sad when a comedy skit on Saturday Night Live is more accurate about global warming than the Bush White House. Al Gore warned us about “renegade glaciers” which are “on the attack.”

Full text of Al Gore’s SNL skit from May is under the fold, and video is at Crooks and Liars.

(more…)

Saddam Hussein is Still Dead

In this afternoon’s news, Saddam Hussein is still dead.Three thousand American soldiers are still dead, with over 46,000 injured.

Over 600,000 Iraqis are still dead and there are over 3 million refugees.

In related news, Osama bin Laden, who George Bush promised to get “dead or alive,” is still alive.