Ohioans on Iraq

Here is the latest from the Ohio Poll sponsored by the University of Cincinnati (PDF):

Registered voters were also asked whether the U.S. should 1) keep military troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized or 2) bring troops home as soon as possible.

Fifty percent of Ohio registered voters say the U.S. should “bring troops home as soon as possible,” while 48 percent say the U.S. should keep military troops in Iraq “until the situation has stabilized” and two percent don’t know.

Republicans (76%) are far more likely than Democrats (22%) to say the U.S. should keep military troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized.

In addition, men (60%) are far more likely than women (38%) to say the U.S. should keep military troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized.

Registered voters were then asked a series of questions about the potential consequences of a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq before civil order is fully restored:

• Fifty-four percent of Ohio registered voters say U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would make a fullscale civil war in Iraq more likely;

• Fifty-four percent say U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would make parts of Iraq becoming bases of operation for international terrorists more likely;

• Fifty-four percent say U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would make Iran taking control of parts of Iraq more likely;

• Twenty-three percent say U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would make stability in Iraq more likely; and

• Twenty-two percent say U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would make stability in the Middle East more likely.

When asked about each of these potential consequences of U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to see U.S. withdrawal as not making much difference as to whether any of these consequences occur.

Apparently, 4% of Ohioans want the troops to come home "as soon as possible" regardless of the fact that if troops are brought home before civil order is fully restored it is more likely that Iraq would become a base for terrorists under Iranian control... As I see it, there are two possibilities: 4% of Ohioans have no idea what the implications of withdrawal is or they don't care. Either way, I'm not impressed with 4% of Ohioans and their view on this subject...

4% of Ohio represents 459,120 Ohioans (total population of Ohio is 11,478,006). I'm not a math guy, but I think if you put 25 people in a room, 1 of them is in this group... Think about that for a minute...