1 in 3 Afghanistan and Iraq War Vets View War as Waste

[johnnyredstorm]

http://www.huffingtonpost...dl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C101637

WASHINGTON — One in three U.S. veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting, and a majority think that after 10 years of combat America should be focusing less on foreign affairs and more on its own problems, according to an opinion survey released Wednesday.

The findings highlight a dilemma for the Obama administration and Congress as they struggle to shrink the government's huge budget deficits and reconsider defense priorities while trying to keep public support for remaining involved in Iraq and Afghanistan for the longer term.

Nearly 4,500 U.S. troops have died in Iraq and about 1,700 in Afghanistan. Combined war costs since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have topped $1 trillion.

The poll results presented by the Pew Research Center portray post-9/11 veterans as proud of their work, scarred by warfare and convinced that the American public has little understanding of the problems that wartime service has created for military members and their families.

The survey also showed that post-9/11 veterans are more likely than Americans as a whole to call themselves Republicans and to disapprove of President Barack Obama's performance as commander in chief. They also are more likely than earlier generations of veterans to have no religious affiliation.

The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan organization that studies attitudes and trends, called the study the first of its kind. The results were based on two surveys conducted between late July and mid-September. One polled 1,853 veterans, including 712 who had served in the military after 9/11 but are no longer on active duty. Of the 712 post-9/11 veterans, 336 served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The other polled 2,003 adults who had not served in the military.

Nearly half of post-9/11 veterans said deployments strained their relationship with their spouses, and a similar share reported problems with their children. On the other hand, 60 percent said they and their families benefited financially from having served abroad in a combat zone. Asked for a single word to describe their experiences, the war veterans offered a mixed picture: "rewarding," "nightmare," "eye opening," "lousy."

There are about 98,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, where the conflict began with a U.S.-led invasion on Oct. 7, 2001. Obama campaigned for the presidency in 2008 on getting out of Iraq and ramping up the military campaign in Afghanistan. He is on track to have all U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of this year, and in July he announced that he would pull 10,000 troops out of Afghanistan this year and 23,000 more by next September.

The Pew survey found that veterans are ambivalent about the net value of the wars, although they generally were more positive about Afghanistan, which has been a more protracted but less deadly conflict for U.S. forces. One-third of post-9/11 veterans said neither war was worth the sacrifices; that was the view of 45 percent in the separate poll of members of the general public.

Fifty percent of veterans said Afghanistan was worth it, whereas the poll of civilians put it at 41 percent.

Among veterans, 44 percent said Iraq was worth it. That compares with 36 percent in the poll of civilians.

Of the surveyed former service members who were seriously wounded or knew someone who was killed or seriously wounded, 48 percent said the war in Iraq was worth fighting, compared with 36 percent of those veterans who had no personal exposure to casualties.

Exposure to casualties had an even larger impact on attitudes toward the war in Afghanistan. Fifty-five percent of those exposed to casualties said Afghanistan has been worth the cost to the U.S., whereas 40 percent of those who were not exposed to casualties held that same view.

Pew said its survey results found "isolationist inclinations" among post-9/11 war veterans. About 6-in-10 said the United States should pay less attention to problems overseas and instead concentrate on problems at home. In a Pew survey conducted earlier this year, a similar share of the general public agreed.

The survey also reflected what many view as a troublesome cultural gap between the military and the general public. Although numerous polls have shown that Americans hold the military in high regard, the respondents in the Pew research acknowledged a lack of understanding of what military life entails.

Only 27 percent of adult civilians said the public understands the problems facing those in uniform, and the share of veterans who said so is even lower – 21 percent.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP


http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP
10 years is enough. It's time we make peace with the Middle East, sign a whole bunch of treaties, and help make them emerging markets.

 

[rashi]

Screw those anti-American, U.S. hating turncoats! Don't they know what they were doing was saving lives!!Don't they know they were protecting our freedom!!


U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A > _________

 

[dadecounty11]

As one of those Iraq/Afghanistan war veterens....I agree.

 

[cosmiccanon]

Originally Posted by dadecounty11

As one of those Iraq/Afghanistan war veterens....I agree.

You served our country? 

I salute you, no seriously.

 

[awwsome]

Well I mean 90% of the casualties were civilians and really no "freedom" was protected or gained.
Anyone with a clear mind sees through this war, even though I have mad love for the vets though, I see you dadecounty

 

[rashi]

Pew said its survey results found "isolationist inclinations" among post-9/11 war veterans. About 6-in-10 said the United States should pay less attention to problems overseas and instead concentrate on problems at home. In a Pew survey conducted earlier this year, a similar share of the general public agreed.




 Ron Paul is the kook...

 

[dadecounty11]

12 Years in the Army. 2 trips to Iraq, 1 to Afghanistan. 3+ years of my life wasted. I got tired of doing the same thing over and over...so I got out. Best choice I ever made.

 

[ryda421]

you need a report or concrete this ?

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Respect brah ^ . Damn shame the reason for each of these wars was oil and greed. It's disgusting **** Cheney hasn't been brought up on war crime charges.

 

[BranchLifestyle]

I'm surprised its not more.

 

[rashi]

Originally Posted by JohnnyRedStorm

Respect brah ^ . Damn shame the reason for each of these wars was oil and greed. It's disgusting **** Cheney hasn't been brought up on war crime charges.

Only child sex trader **** Cheney? You do know that an American citizen was murdered by a a model plane recently without charges filed nor trial, right?

 

[sonoftony]

two of my close friends who served in iraq are also against the war.

 

[al audi]

Originally Posted by dadecounty11

12 Years in the Army. 2 trips to Iraq, 1 to Afghanistan. 3+ years of my life wasted. I got tired of doing the same thing over and over...so I got out. Best choice I ever made.

 

[benssick]

War is stupid and we all know out government is corrupt and set all this up. All i'm saying. I love America but the people running it are stupid. 

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Originally Posted by rashi

Originally Posted by JohnnyRedStorm

Respect brah ^ . Damn shame the reason for each of these wars was oil and greed. It's disgusting **** Cheney hasn't been brought up on war crime charges.

Only child sex trader **** Cheney? You do know that an American citizen was murdered by a a model plane recently without charges filed nor trial, right?

I heard something about but didn't know they waved it off as nothing.

 

[finnns2003]

2 in 3 Afghanistan and Iraq War Vets are clueless pawns.

 

[sundoobie]

Yeah but it isn't ending any time soon.

Just look at all the Presidential candidates(minus Ron Paul) in 2012... they are all Republicans that supported the Bush Administration and don't have an agenda to stop the American war machine anytime soon.

Then you look at our current President, a Nobel Prize winner and who ran on an anti-war platform... well Obama is more of a War monger in 3 years than Bush ever was in his 8 years.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Obama is not a war monger, shut up. What Bush Cheney did to take advantage of that region is far worse than Obama not immediately pulling out his troops and returning them to a barren America where crack is easier to find than a job. 

 

[sundoobie]

Originally Posted by JohnnyRedStorm

Obama is not a war monger, shut up. What Bush Cheney did to take advantage of that region is far worse than Obama not immediately pulling out his troops and returning them to a barren America where crack is easier to find than a job. 

I am just stating FACTS.. .no need to get all defensive and angry.  Here judge for yourself...
-Waged war against Libya without Congressional approval. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20045508-503544.html

-Guantanamo Bay is still open for business

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oew-photo-obama-civil-liberties,0,2807001.photo

-23,000-30,000 additional US troops sent to Afghanistan. Current troops in Afghanistan has TRIPLED since Obama took office. 

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/troops-in-afghanistan-now-outnumber-those-in-iraq/

-50,000+ US troops still in Iraq. Occupation of Iraq continues...

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/08/31/obama-lauds-fake-end-to-iraq-war-as-historic-moment/

-Drone attacks have tripled since Obama has taken office compared to the previous Bush Administration.  Now it's in Somalia. 

http://www.nytimes.com/20...rica/02somalia.html?_r=1

-Over 1,300 American troops have died since Obama took office.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/m...troops-die-afghanistan-under-obama-under-bush

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/us-...pass-1000-two-thirds-of-us-casualties-in-war/

-Defense spending has increased under Obama

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/01/obama-budget-pentagon-idUSN0120383520100201

-Sold over 60 Billion in weapons to the Saudi Arabia

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/20/us.saudi.arms.deal/?hpt=Sbin

-Obama signed an agreement with the country of Columbia to have US military troops stationed in 7 military bases in South America in order to wage war against Marxist guerrillas. 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/10/30/us.colombia.bases/index.html

-Covert wars have expanded under Obama. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304965_pf.html

-Patriot Act has been extended thanks to Obama

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/patriot-act-extension-signed-obama-autopen_n_867851.html

-Bush's rendition program still being used by the Obama administration

http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/as-rendition-controversy-reemerges-obama-admin-policies-murky

Should I continue?  I have plenty more.

 

[callhimar]

I like when people make it seem like the President has unlimited power and can enact whatever he wishes. 
I love when people expect a country that we've previously bombed into submission, destroying all defense forces and most infrastructure, to be able to train their own troops and rebuild by themselves. And then on top of this call the troops and people helping this process along an occupation.

But I really love when people say "we should have been in country X instead of country Y" for years, then when we start to focus on country X come out and say "we need to end all wars now!" The fact is, Iraq was a frivolous adventure and never should have happened, and Afghanistan should have been the main focus. Now that it has become the main focus, it needs to stay that way until their security forces can protect that country and it's citizens. They're almost there, but not quite. It may or may not happen by 2014, the expected pull out date, and if it doesn't then a deal needs to be reached by then. It is just incredibly hard when leaders who are trying to accomplish just this keep getting assassinated. 

 

[dena up]

Originally Posted by dadecounty11

As one of those Iraq/Afghanistan war veterens....I agree.

I second this fellow veteran's opinion.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Originally Posted by CallHimAR

I like when people make it seem like the President has unlimited power and can enact whatever he wishes. 
I love when people expect a country that we've previously bombed into submission, destroying all defense forces and most infrastructure, to be able to train their own troops and rebuild by themselves. And then on top of this call the troops and people helping this process along an occupation.

But I really love when people say "we should have been in country X instead of country Y" for years, then when we start to focus on country X come out and say "we need to end all wars now!" The fact is, Iraq was a frivolous adventure and never should have happened, and Afghanistan should have been the main focus. Now that it has become the main focus, it needs to stay that way until their security forces can protect that country and it's citizens. They're almost there, but not quite. It may or may not happen by 2014, the expected pull out date, and if it doesn't then a deal needs to be reached by then. It is just incredibly hard when leaders who are trying to accomplish just this keep getting assassinated. 

This and Obama waged war with Libya? No, he aided them in their revolution. Big difference.

 

[tkthafm]

I'm more surprised there are still 2/3 that think the wars weren't complete wastes/failures/embarrassments.