monique

Woolgathering
2004-09-07 19:34:49 (UTC)

Respecting the Troops

I'd missed this bit when I read the e-mail the first time.

"We recently received a forwarded email about a wife of a
soldier in Irag who stood up to some mouthy girls. If the
story is true, perhaps the girls were mouthy and that young
wife was very brave, but this story came across that you
cannot respect what our soldiers are doing in Iraq and still
know what slime the people who sent them there are."

Well, the story is true. See:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/l/lorikimble.htm

And the idea that it isn't possible to respect what our
soldiers are doing in Iraq because you don't like the
current political leaders or because you don't agree with
why they're there--or why you believe they're there-- is
very disturbing to me.

Is a soldier's sacrifice less because the war he was in is
unpopular? Do we refuse to honor our war dead because we
don't happen to like the current political leaders who sent
them to war? Are we going to go back to calling the soldiers
who come home baby killers like the girls in that story did?

To support the troops is to hope not only for their safe
return but also for the achievement of their aims. To
support the aim of our military is to support the leader of
our military, the Commander in Chief, who authored the
policy. The war is here; the decision has been made.
Either you support the troops - and thus their mission - or
you oppose the war and our troops. Supporting the troops but
opposing the policy are contradictory concepts. Question the
strategies if you must, but have the courage to be honest if
you have created for yourself a surreal world where fact and
fiction reside together.

I also noted that in this approximately 450 word e-mail the
President and Vice-President were called slime, creeps and
weasels. I've never found name calling very constructive or
convincing arguments for one's points.




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