Delftsman

Support the troops, but hate the war?

There is a monotonous drone from the Left side of the aisle that they "support the troops, but hate the war". Personally, I don't believe that you can really do both and still be honest in your stance. That is NOT to say that you have to love war; NO ONE loves war, least of all those that have to be on the front lines.

A contributor to Blackfive that is a front line, boot on the ground type, says it better than I can:

If you don't support this war I'm calling you out. I've had enough of people sitting in their living rooms watching the lying media and jumping on the bandwagon against this war. Don't ever say to me, "I support the troops, but not the war." You might as well be telling me that I'm committing a crime. You are in effect saying that my cause is unjust and everything I believe in is a lie. I have held my tongue in the past, but I will never allow you to have it both ways again. You cannot support me if you do not support this war. I am this war. It embodies everything that I believe in. If you believe that what we are doing here is wrong then you are in effect supporting the evil we seek to destroy. If you believe I'm wrong for trying to stop evil people from taking more innocent lives then I fear there is no hope for you. If you choose to dishonor my service and the sacrifice of my fallen brothers by taking a position against this war you are free to make that choice thanks to guys like Mike and Nate, but don't expect me to sit idly by and bite my tongue while you do it. Do it in my presence and be prepared to try and support your feeble position while I enlighten everyone else on the reality of this war and the nature of the enemy we face. I will ensure that you look like the fool that you are.

He also has some to say about the nature and type of enemy we are facing in this conflict; do yourself a favor and go read his message from the front in it's entirety.

I for one will join Angry American and try to call out those that try to have it both ways and atttempt to (respectfully, for now) make them see the illogic and disrespect inherant in their position.

GuyK, a man I respect for his horse sense as well as his long service to his country, has stated on his blog several times that we are not really fighting a war in Iraq, and that we should take a decision to either REALLY fight a war as war should be fought, whole hog, or pull the troops out as soon as humanly possible and prevent any further causelties for a losing cause.

I believe we owe it to those that have already gave their last measure, and those that are risking giving that measure the TRUE support they need, and at long last "let loose the dogs of war" in truth and not just play at fighting a war; it is asinine to make our troops operate under unrealistic ROE's that place more empathis on "religious/cultural sensitivity" than on their own safety. We have to come to grips that war is a nasty, dirty, and often gruesome business, and go on and get business done. The Islamofacists seem to have no problem putting their Mosques and other religious centers to use in conducting their operations, so we should have no compunction in razing those places to the ground when we ascertain that they are part of an enemy action. We should have the same respect for their religous buildings that they exhibit...NONE.

The Islamofacists seem to have no qualms in using innocents to do their work or as shields to prevent themselves from being attacked. It's terrible to even think it, much less do it, but we must realize that our reluctance to allow ANY so called collateral damage is giving the Islamofacists much greater power and abilities to operate than they would otherwise have. If they knew that using innocents wouldn't protect them, maybe they would discontinue the practice, and a far greater number of innocents would be saved in the future. Furthur, the innocent ? civilians would be encouraged to work more in their own defense and against those that would put them in a fatal position in the middle. In other words, make hostage taking unprofitable to the goals of the enemy and it will occur much less; saving more lives in the long run.

No participant is left unsavaged by participation in a war; that is why war should never be undertaken lightly. But when it is decided to sound the drum and call the call, it is best for all in the long run to fight it as savagely as needed to win as quickly and decisively as possible.

We have tried to have it both ways in this conflict, trying to hold ourselves to a mythical "higher moral ground" while we fight an enemy that doesn't have any moral restrictions on accomplishing their goal ; that only leads to stalemate and higher causelties on the battlefront and alienation between the various segments of the population at home.

Truly, only our troops are at war, America at home is at the Mall. Until that changes, we are expending our best and brightest in an unwinnable, though just, cause. It is not the troops that will failed us, but WE will have failed our troops

Posted by Delftsman3 at February 9, 2008 01:55 PM | TrackBack