Survey: The troops’ turn to speak (Iraq Worth Fighting, ? Morale)

[RamboLiberal]

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37796&archive=true

In the third year of the war in Iraq, with debate flaring in the U.S., American troops surveyed by Stars and Stripes overwhelmingly said the war is worth fighting.

Seventy-four percent of Stripes military readers in Iraq who responded to a readership survey said fighting the war for America was “very” or “somewhat” worthwhile. About a quarter of the respondents said it was “not very worthwhile” or “not worthwhile at all.”

And while 81 percent of Stripes readers in Iraq said the definition of their mission is clear, responses also reflected some concerns about morale.

Troops in the non-officer, or enlisted, ranks tended to be less optimistic about the subject of morale than officers.

While half of the respondents between the ranks of E-1 and E-6 said their unit’s morale was somewhat low or very low, 82 percent of the commissioned officers who responded said they believed their unit’s morale was high or very high. The percentage of these officers rating their unit's morale as somewhat low or very low was 15 percent. Seventy-four percent of readers with ranks from E-7 to E-9 plus warrant officers rated their unit’s morale as high or very high.

[Monkeyman]

1. They should poll the wounded