Pacific Views

Supporting Our Troops

I was listening to NPR during their special broadcast about the
capture of Saddam Hussein. One caller expressed concern that the
administration and others have been critical of Iraq war protesters,
claiming that they are not supporting our troops. The NPR host asked the
caller what he was doing to support the troops. When the caller answered
that he was emailing his two friends serving in Iraq and donating clothes,
the host thanked him for calling and tossed a softball to the military
hard-liner guest speaker. This retired general went on to say that a few
people will have "nagging doubts" about the Iraq war, but that some
discussion is good for democracy.

Had I been asked the "what are you doing?" question, I would have answered
that I'm doing these local things, but more importantly, I'm supporting our
troops by protesting the administration's decision to invade Iraq in the
first place and calling into talk shows to keep the issue in people's minds.
Raising the issue and keeping it current as long as our troops are in harm's
way is vital to maintaining our democracy and the values we hold dear.

What no one on the show acknowledged was that the best way we can support
our troops now and in the future is by replacing their Commander in Chief.
We need a leader who would not willingly trade the lives of hundreds of
Americans and thousands of Iraqis for an adventure that was fraudulently
sold to the American people based on false tales of weapons of mass
destruction and connections to Bin Laden. I support our troops and am
showing my commitment by working diligently to make sure that Bush is not
reelected.

This issue needs to be flipped on it's head -- those who claim that support
for troops means putting them in harm's way for an unnecessary
politically-motived war are being unpatriotic at best, disingenuous
warmongers at worst. Let's start holding these people responsible for the
loss of lives and suffering that their actions and attitudes encourage.
Stay tuned for a piece on patriotism, coming soon.

Posted by Norman at December 15, 2003 08:52 PM | TrackBack