Polls and The War

Bush believes public wants success in Iraq

The Leftist media has constantly used polls to argue most Americans want us to leave Iraq:

In fact, polls show Americans do not disagree [that the war is going badly], and that leaving — not winning — is their main goal.

In one released Friday by CBS and the New York Times, 63 percent supported a troop withdrawal timetable of sometime next year. Another earlier this month from USA Today and Gallup found 59 percent backing a withdrawal deadline that the U.S. should stick to no matter what's happening in Iraq.

A comment attributed to English politician Disraeli seems appropriate here: "There are lies, damnable lies, and statistics." The White House aides have it right:

Bush aides say poll questions are asked so many ways, and often so imprecisely, that it is impossible to conclude that most Americans really want to get out.

Precisely. The statistics are useless unless the questionnaire is opened up to scrutiny. But, that fact doesn't deter the Leftist media from trotting them out at every opportunity. To paraphrase Scottish author Andrew Lang: "[They] use statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts—for support rather than illumination."

Tag: Iraq
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Human rights abuse!

U.S. Accused of Human Rights Violations

We have been accused!

GENEVA - A U.N. investigator accused the United States on Friday of human rights violations in its fight against terrorism, criticizing the use of military commissions to try civilians and interrogation practices.

Oh. It's the U.N. Never mind. I thought it was something serious.

Tag: news
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Our Generals timid?

Marines Fail to Get Gear to Troops

WASHINGTON - The system for delivering badly needed gear to Marines in Iraq has failed to meet many urgent requests for equipment from troops in the field, according to an internal document obtained by The Associated Press.

This is a story about how our Marines desperately need suitable equipment to fight the enemy they are facing.

The document [outlining equipment needs of our Marines] was to be presented in March to senior officials in the Pentagon's defense research and engineering office. The presentation was canceled by Marine Corps leaders because its contents were deemed too contentious, according to a defense official familiar with the document. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

This reminds me of the movie about the Battle of Rorke's Drift, where soldiers returning from the firing line to fetch ammunition were upbraided by the Quartermaster for not queuing up and waiting their turn.

Have our Generals become such wussies that they are subordinating our war fighting capability to political niceties?

If so, the Republic is lost.

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Scrap guest worker visa: Faulty reasoning?

Senator: Scrap Temporary Worker Program

The guest worker program, part of the immigration reform legislation currently in the Senate, is being criticized by labor unions and business groups alike:

Many labor unions say it would keep wages low and create a class of abused foreign workers. Some business groups call the leave-and-return element unworkable.

Sen. Dorgan, sponsor of an amendment to strike the guest worker program, is following the union line of reasoning:

"It is just a fiction that these are jobs Americans aren't willing to do," Dorgan said. "The fact is that the overwhelming majority of these jobs are currently done by Americans. The main reason that big corporations want a guest worker program is that it will drive down U.S. wages."

The "wages" argument doesn't stand up to scrutiny. We don't have to guess about the effect of guest workers on wages because the guest workers are already here and have been for a long time. It is hard to imagine how issuing a visa will change the existing economics of that segment of the labor market.

If having a guest worker program is a bad idea, those against it will have to come up with a better argument.

Tag: immigration reform
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