If the troops support the war effort, why can't liberals?

Question

Do liberals think they know more than the brave men and women on the ground?

Answer 1

It's funny how the majority of people who answer questions like these have either not been in the military (and subsequently never gone to Iraq) or they have never spoken to military personnel. I have been to Iraq twice and was proud to do so each time. Liberals DO NOT care one inkling about the troops as evidenced by the "stupid" comment made by Jon Carrey (sic??). Liberals think that the military is full of dumb people (let alone all of the "dumb" people in the U.S.). They are also very disingenous in insinuating that they know more about what is going on in Iraq than the troops themselves. We are winning the war and we will win although we may lose because of the defeatist attitudes of the liberals. Cut and run. Surrender. Those are their mantras. If you don't believe me then look at what happened in Somalia in 1993. 18 American servicemembers were killed and Clinton "cut and run".

Answer 2

Why does anyone think that it's liberals that don't support the war?

Anyone who spoke out in protest against the current administration was branded a liberal by the Bush Junta. I know quite a few people in the intel community that opposed our invasion of Iraq. Why did they oppose it? Because they saw that this Administration DID NOT have a plan for rebuilding. Plus they questioned the intel behind ShrubCo's push for the invasion.

Do the troops actually support the war effort? Yes. And no. Yes, because we are going after the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks. No, because going into Iraq had NOTHING to do with Al-Qaeda. In fact, the Kurds (our allies) had more mid-level contacts with Al-Qaeda than Saddam's regime (our enemy) did with low-level operatives.

Do liberals think that we should have invaded Iraq? Yes. Most liberals that I know agree on this. But what liberals realized is that we DID NOT finish the job we set out to do in Afghanistan. We did not break Al Qaeda nor have we really rebuilt Afghanistan. Because of Bush's focus on Iraq, things have gotten worse. The Taliban now effectively control 1/3 of Afghanistan and the country has once again become the leading producer of opium. We realize that we needed to succeed in Afghanistan before we invaded Iraq.

Bush and his handlers were warned that what we are now seeing would happen if they didn't have a plan for reconstruction. They failed to listen.

As for the John Kerry comment, he hit the nail on the head in a twisted kind of way. I've spoken to a lot of the conservatives and hardline Bush supporters and republicans actually believe it that our men and women in the military are stupid. I got into an argument with a few users on here about it and their point always came down to the same accusation. That because they made more money and had gone to college they had more to offer than someone serving in the military. Their attitude was that anyone who actively serves is a lower class and lifeform. They insulted the very men and women they claimed to support.

Answer 3

Not all troops support the War effort, many just play the game and keep their mouth shut and move their arms and legs when told to do so, myself included. Do I support our efforts overseas? What efforts, why establish a $4 billion postal system for Iraq? They didn't have one when we got there the first time in the 90's so why now? We do what we're told to do when to do it, not because we like it but because it's our job and obligation. Some like it some don't. It's like that with any job!

Answer 4

It's been over 3 years since the US has been fighting a few thousand camel jockies in Iraq & not only have they not won (the entire WW2 was won in 3 years) the war has gotten worse & that comes from the US Sec. of Defense's mouth not some liberal. So if I asked some of our troops in Baghdad if the US is winning or losing the war what do you think he/she would tell me? That the Sec. of Defense is lying? How would US troops even know who is winning or losing in Iraq when there aren't any major battles to determine if they are winning or losing? Just a bunch of never ending small fire fights that don't help win anything and only put the US into a bigger quaqmire.

Answer 5

Troop support for the war effort is dropping. This from "Military City", certainly not a hotbed of liberalism:

Approval of the president’s Iraq policy fell 9 percentage points from 2004; a bare majority, 54 percent, now say they view his performance on Iraq as favorable. Support for his overall performance fell 11 points, to 60 percent, among active-duty readers
of the Military Times newspapers. Though support both for President Bush and for the war in Iraq remains significantly higher than in the public as a whole, the drop is likely to add further fuel to the heated debate over Iraq policy. In 2003 and 2004, supporters of the war in Iraq pointed to high approval ratings in the Military Times Poll as a signal that military members were behind President Bush’s the president’s policy.
http://www.militarycity.com/polls/2005_main.php

Also, about 1000 troops have openly petitioned congress for redress. This is huge, and is unprecedented since near the end of viet nam:
http://www.appealforredress.org/

The troops are much more sheltered from open dissent in the news than the general population, and I belive it is just a matter of not very much time before the supporters "on the ground" are in the minority. I believe they do NOT know more than the general population, as their access to open sources of news is limited.

Answer 6

Your first assumption isn't completely correct. When your in the military it is considered bad form to oppose the commander and chief. They tend to treat you as a traiter. Liberals on the other hand see things from a different perspective. They don't have a gun pointed at their head.

Answer 7

That is a ridiculous question. first, the troops have no choice. If they did, I guarantee you they would not support this little exercise of arrogance and ineptness. Second, it is far from only "liberals" who do n ot support the war; the latest polling shows that only 22% of Americans support the war...only the hard-core ideologues who are blinded by rhetoric still support it. Finally, I am so sick and tired of you neocons suggesting that just because one opposes a war that we don't support our troops...you couldn't be any further from the truth.

Answer 8

You do know that not all soldiers support the war and not all liberals are against it, don't you?

Answer 9

Most of the tofu munching, non smoking anarchists have never served and are so filthy rich they are out of touch with reality. No wonder the Taliban was thinking them! They are just like them, full of confusion!

Answer 10

Here's the answer to that question:
John Kerry said that the soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan are dumb. He said this when he was campaigning during last month's election. This is what most Democrats believe. (This highly illogical, because the Marines, the Airforce, the Navy, and the Army have to know how to shoot, how to give first aid, (and in the case of the Marines, Airforce, and Navy) blow up stuff with bombs.)