I Support the Troops - A Response
I got a rather nonsensical comment here a couple of days ago telling me that I didn't support the troops and I probably wanted them to die to advance my agenda.
(That is my cleaned up version of what was posted; in line with my unwritten policy, criticism and disagreement are encouraged, I do change my mind when faced with a better argument, but obscenity laced ravings are deleted at my discretion.)
I've thought about that alot, and I think I want to respond.
My criticism regarding this war is intended to be aimed solely at people at the policy making level. I think I'm pretty good about that. I personally believe that this war was wrong on many fronts, which I'm not going to list here. I also believe the convolution of the criticism between the war itself and the war effort is an intentional propaganda ploy being enacted by the White House to get people like you, Quint, to blindly follow bad policy.
But you see, it is because of the poor provenance of this war that I respect our troops all the more.
I mean, what level of devotion to duty, what level of belief in this country must it take from these guys to go out on patrol, day after day, on the same roads, and on the same routes, where they were attacked yesterday and most likely will be attacked again tomorrow. For or against the war, bad news from home, shit duty, these guys are willing to put all of it aside every time they go out and risk their lives.
I respect the hell out of that, Quint. I don't know your history. I don't know who the hell you are, but don't you dare come into my house and tell me that I want soldiers to die.
I had the balls to write up a first draft on what I thought was a reasonable plan to get us out of Iraq, to stop US soldiers from dying. What have you done? Clapping louder doesn't keep soldiers from dying, asshole.
(That is my cleaned up version of what was posted; in line with my unwritten policy, criticism and disagreement are encouraged, I do change my mind when faced with a better argument, but obscenity laced ravings are deleted at my discretion.)
I've thought about that alot, and I think I want to respond.
My criticism regarding this war is intended to be aimed solely at people at the policy making level. I think I'm pretty good about that. I personally believe that this war was wrong on many fronts, which I'm not going to list here. I also believe the convolution of the criticism between the war itself and the war effort is an intentional propaganda ploy being enacted by the White House to get people like you, Quint, to blindly follow bad policy.
But you see, it is because of the poor provenance of this war that I respect our troops all the more.
I mean, what level of devotion to duty, what level of belief in this country must it take from these guys to go out on patrol, day after day, on the same roads, and on the same routes, where they were attacked yesterday and most likely will be attacked again tomorrow. For or against the war, bad news from home, shit duty, these guys are willing to put all of it aside every time they go out and risk their lives.
I respect the hell out of that, Quint. I don't know your history. I don't know who the hell you are, but don't you dare come into my house and tell me that I want soldiers to die.
I had the balls to write up a first draft on what I thought was a reasonable plan to get us out of Iraq, to stop US soldiers from dying. What have you done? Clapping louder doesn't keep soldiers from dying, asshole.
posted by mikevotes at
10:36 PM
6 Comments:
War is an ugly, hateful thing. There are no winners. As a mother, I would not feel proud sending my son to his death for the benefit of what a Government decides is best.
By
Anonymous, at 11:29 PM
Like the bleating about Saddam being a bad man and how the world is a better place without him, the “you don't support the troops” bleating is nothing more than an attempt to change the subject and stymie a coherent discussion. Such accusations are be best ignored.
Don't take the bait and don't try to argue that you do in fact support the troops. To do so only delays fruitful and meaningful discussion. As for wanting soldiers to die, we can take it for granted that any decent human being does not want anyone to die. Therefore, such nonsense does not need to be dignified an answer. (Although I do sympathize that it can cause one to become a bit hot with indignation.)
By
Justin, at 3:30 AM
I had a commenter over at my place attempt to refute an ex-CIA guy's assertion that humane treatment begets humane treatment by saying they'll torture our guys anyway. Then he invited me to come read his argument in favor of "limited torture." Go figure. I resisted the temptation to incinerate him.
By
the spook, at 2:17 PM
Interesting piece. Much more restrained than I would have been (you managed to get to the last paragraph without swearing!). I tend to agree with Justin though, the "support the troops" meme, isn't really a point of view. It's a method of curtailing debate. That was very obvious over here in blighty when the war started and the LibDems who had made some gestures towards opposing the war decided that they couldn't be critical of the imperialist massacre (lets be in honest, in the original stages there was hardly a war in the traditional sense with opposing sides on even vaguely equal terms) while "our boys" were involved.
On a related (and possibly controversial) note I'd be curious to hear what your perspective is on the right (or otherwise) or armed resistance to occupation. Do Iraqis have a right (which isn't to say you have to like it) to attack the occupying powers?
By
Disillusioned kid, at 2:19 PM
First to Justin and the DKid,
No, I think it's important to stand up and say what you believe regarding the war an the troops. I see the "you don't support the troops" attack as a means of quieting dissent by reducing all the issues surrounding this war, how we got in, conduct of, competency of the leadership, to the single most popular one.
And, quite frankly, I couldn't let that comment, that I wanted US soldiers to die go unanswered.
But I'm an idealist. I believe in subtle positions that can change when faced with better argument or new evidence. I believe you can be against the war and for the troops, and I wanted to explain how I hold that position. Because I do believe the fact that these guys are doing their jobs when this war is so obviously wrong is truly a testament to their commitment to duty and is all the more commendable because of the circumstances.
And, D Kid, short answer is yes. All peoples have the right to self determination, and within that comes the right to resist foreign occupation. That's why in mike's Plan for Iraq(I'm using your trick Justin) I make a real effort to say that we should stop attacking Iraqis unless they specifically attack our troops first. This is their country, and their civil war. We have no place in it.
And spook, good to hear from you. It's been awhile. I figured you'd grown bored with my ranting.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 2:34 PM
119,247 veterans of the two current wars have already sought VA treatment, according to its figures. 46,000 were diagnosed with musculoskeletal problems. The more of our troops who go there, the more who will suffer from depleted uranium the rest of their lives. But of course once they're out of the Army, they're not Our Troops anymore, so we don't have to support them. Just like the killing of a black man is meaningful when he's in Army fatigues and an Iraqi does it, but not when he's dressed "black" and a cop does it here.
As the SS belt buckles used to say, "My Honor is Loyalty".
By
Anonymous, at 3:36 PM
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