When a Bush or a Bush surrogate comes at Kerry saying, "what kind of message does it send to the troops to be saying wrong war, wrong place, wrong time" Kerry needs to say this.
I'll tell you what it says. It says that the ideas of freedom, democracy, and honest debate that they are fighting for are still alive and well in our country and they should be proud to fight for and we should be honored that they are willing to lay down their lives to protect those ideals. Woe is the day for our country where honest debate about the gravest matter a country can face, war, is labeled demoralizing, even treasonous. The day that happens then all of the sacrifices by all the brave soliders of the United States, from the minutemen to the reservists and special forces now, will have been in vain.
What does it say to the troops about a commander in chief who fiddles while Rome burns? Bush does not understand the realities on the ground, and the sacrifices that are being made for his war. He believes that escalating violence is not call to re-think our stragtegy, but a ringing endorsement of his policies. Thankfully our military has commanders and leaders who can take a wrong decision by the President and still grasp victory from the claws of defeat. But how long can they continue to break even, that is why we need a new leader. Someone who will listen to what those commanders have to say instead of pushing them aside when their honest assesments don't match up to the fantasies of a few ideologues.