WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- An annual poll by a newspaper group that caters to the military shows support for President Bush and Iraq war is declining.
The 2005 Military Times Poll -- associated with the family of newspapers that includes the Army Times -- says 54 percent of the active-duty military respondents support the Iraq war, down 9 points from last year. Support for Bush overall fell from 71 percent to 60 percent.
The majority - 64 percent - agreed that the military is stretched "too thin to be effective."
Half said the civilian leadership of the military does not have military personnel's best interests at heart. Congress faired worse: 57 percent believe Congress does not have their best interests at heart. The senior uniformed leadership, however, has the confidence of 64 percent of the respondents.
Seventy percent said they would re-enlist or extend their careers, and 73 percent said they would encourage their children to join if they showed an interest.
The survey was conducted by mail between Nov. 14 and Dec. 23. Because it was voluntary response rather than a random sampling, its findings may not be representative of the military as a whole.
According to the Military Times, the respondents are older, more likely to be officers, and more likely to be career military. Six thousand people were surveyed by mail; 1,215 active duty respondents filled out and returned their surveys.
A Pew Research Center poll taken in November showed military "opinion leaders" -- officers and senior enlisted -- to be about evenly split on whether the invasion of Iraq was the right thing to do. The same showed 45 percent of military officers believed Bush's advocacy of a democracy in Iraq "is a good idea that will not succeed." Nineteen percent consider it a bad idea.
