I support the troops by appreciating and recognizing the sacrifice they and their families make in serving in our Armed Forces. I support them for risking their lives for the national security of our nation. I support them BY opposing the scandalous policies of the Bush Administration in Iraq. I support them by understanding that they are not to blame for the Iraq Debacle, but among its victims. I support them by opposing the Bush policy of torture and suspension of the Geneva Conventions. I support them by denouncing war criminals, because to do otherwise is to dishonor our troops
I wrote that about a year ago. Yesterday, Joel Stein, a funny man, wrote:
I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on.
. . . I've got no problem with other people -- the ones who were for the Iraq war -- supporting the troops. If you think invading Iraq was a good idea, then by all means, support away. Load up on those patriotic magnets and bracelets and other trinkets the Chinese are making money off of.
But I'm not for the war. And being against the war and saying you support the troops is one of the wussiest positions the pacifists have ever taken -- and they're wussy by definition. It's as if the one lesson they took away from Vietnam wasn't to avoid foreign conflicts with no pressing national interest but to remember to throw a parade afterward.
Blindly lending support to our soldiers, I fear, will keep them overseas longer by giving soft acquiescence to the hawks who sent them there -- and who might one day want to send them somewhere else. Trust me, a guy who thought 50.7% was a mandate isn't going to pick up on the subtleties of a parade for just service in an unjust war. He's going to be looking for funnel cake.
. . . [B]laming the president is a little too easy. The truth is that people who pull triggers are ultimately responsible, whether they're following orders or not. An army of people making individual moral choices may be inefficient, but an army of people ignoring their morality is horrifying. An army of people ignoring their morality, by the way, is also Jack Abramoff's pet name for the House of Representatives.
. . . [W]hen you volunteer for the U.S. military, you pretty much know you're not going to be fending off invasions from Mexico and Canada. So you're willingly signing up to be a fighting tool of American imperialism, for better or worse. Sometimes you get lucky and get to fight ethnic genocide in Kosovo, but other times it's Vietnam.
. . . I'm not advocating that we spit on returning veterans like they did after the Vietnam War, but we shouldn't be celebrating people for doing something we don't think was a good idea. All I'm asking is that we give our returning soldiers what they need: hospitals, pensions, mental health and a safe, immediate return. But, please, no parades.
It is a strange logic that sees calling for the safe immediate return of our soldiers, and "giving the soldiers what they need" (like body armor and a plan) as NOT supporting the troops. Someone needs to tell John Murtha that.
Stein is a good writer and perhaps wanted to write something along these lines. His worst line of thinking is the idea that it is per se immoral to BE in the military. Does he really believe that? If he does, then nothing need be added. He is a fool. Or a pacifist. I am not a pacifist. I oppose the Iraq Debacle. I support the troops. Not difficult to understand it seems to me. And why BushCo is who I hold to blame here.
Want to know the truth? I think Stein wanted to write that he doesn't support the troops, even though he really does. That's my accusation against Stein - he DOES support the troops.