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John Daley ReportingCivilian and military leaders in Washington are weighing options for Iraq, and whether to expand the military by tens of thousands. Support for that seems to be lukewarm in Utah, according to an exclusive new Survey USA/KSL poll.
President Bush is considering what may be one of the biggest decisions of his presidency -- whether to put more troops into Iraq. He's already signaled that he believes the US needs to expand its Army and Marines, perhaps by tens of thousands. Utahns seem sharply divided on the issue, according to a new KSL-TV Survey USA poll.
Our question reads: "There is a proposal to increase the number of U.S. military troops by as much as 35-thousand troops. Would you support or oppose this increase?" 44% say they support the idea, 48% oppose, 8% aren't sure.
We asked: "Do you think the extra troops should be sent to Iraq or elsewhere? 37% say Iraq, 38% say elsewhere, 24% aren't sure.
KSL also recently received an email from a woman in Sandy who alerted us to a friend, John Dalgleish, who had just returned to Utah after three tours of duty, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. As for whether our troops are getting stretched too thin, he says they're ready to do what's asked of them.
John Dalgleish, Army Sgt.: "So it's starting to wear on them but the morale is definitely high with them and they'll do what need be and accomplish the mission. All that kind of stuff is definitely beyond all of our pay grades."
We also asked if Utahns thinks the current number of troops in Iraq is enough or are they being stretched too thin. 32% say there's enough, 57% say "stretched too thin."
Dalgleish, the son of a Army Reservist in the military for 36 years, says he does feel great support from the public, who sometimes will come up and thank him for his service.
That Survey was of 500 adults statewide. The margin of error is 4.5%
