LIEBERMAN FOUND SOME GUNG HO COLONELS WHO WANT TO EXPAND THE WAR. BUT THE GENERALS AND THE SOLDIERS SAY IT'S ALL OVER

The other day Holy Joe Lieberman offered cover for the Bush Regime's intention to ignore the bipartisan nonpartisan recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, even though that committee is made up almost entirely of fellow conservatives, corporatists and militarists. But McCain and Lieberman are staking out a position for themselves for 2008-- they think of it as the "grown ups;" others call it the "senile." With virtually all the generals diplomatically telling Washington the war can't be won militarily and that the occupation should end, Lieberman went to the Middle East for 10 days and found himself some ambitious colonels who want to throw some more fresh meat into the grinder. Lieberman, Cheney, Bush and McCain were overjoyed.

They were probably less happy today when their moment of delicious, bloody revenge was interrupted by reports that support for the Bush Regime's military adventures among active duty troops is diminishing... rapidly. According to a Military Times poll, only about a third of American service members approve of Bush's handling on the war. "The American military-- once a staunch supporter of President Bush and the Iraq war-- has grown increasingly pessimistic about chances for victory. For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president's handling of the war than approve of it."

Optimism about Bush's job as Commander in Chief-- at least in regard to Iraq-- has fallen from a high of 83% in 2004 to 50%-- with only 35% of our soldiers, airman, marines and seamen saying they approve of the way Bush is handling the Iraq War (down from a high of 63%). "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."

A lack of any real progress, coupled with more and more fatalities and casualties have had a profound impact on the trust the military has in Bush and his Regime. Being cheated and treated like shit by AT&T, Halliburton and other GOP war profiteers is starting to take a toll as well. Support for the Republican Party among the military has also dropped sharply. "In the three previous polls, nearly 60 percent of the respondents identified themselves as Republicans, which is about double the population as a whole. But in this year's poll, only 46 percent of the military respondents said they were Republicans." More and more service members are identifying themselves as political independents.