Why do so many people equate supporting the troops with supporting the war?

Question

Do you really think the Middle Eastern people are poised with their clickers pointed at American televisions? Or that the troops are watching anything beyond a slanted view of why we are fighting Iraq in the midst of its civil war? Since when do two wrongs (encouraging a war with a country that never attacked us and distracting ourselves from the realterrorists elsewhere because we have our forces and intelligence centralized in one area) make a right (supporting the troops)? Of course I support the troops and their families. This DOES NOT MEAN I have to support the administration or the war. In no way am I "encouraging the enemy" and yet I hear this phrase thrown about without abandon all the time. The enemy is building up nuclear weapons caches and spreading its factions further through Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Africa, China and elsewhere while our President is attacking a country we were never under threat of attack from. This is a fallacy of justice.

*Gimp* - I honestly understand what you're saying and what Jane Fonda did then was reprehensible. I am not Jane Fonda, however. There will always be people in America who disagree with one another regarding war. If a President was elected who declared a war on South Africa for no reason except that he hated black people and our troops got killed there, would you support the war? I sincerely hope not. Please tell me how fighting Iraq isn't leaving us wide open for terrorists everywhere. Since you fought in Vietnam, you know what an unwinnable war against a perceived enemy was like as well as the fact that those you were told you were fighting for never wanted you there in the first place.

I do not lessen the morale of the troops by disagreeing with the war. I attempt to bring them home before any more get killed. I wish we could utilize our forces to fight terror rather than watching it continue throughout Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon, Africa, Russia, China, and elsewhere.

*Seadog* What facts are you reading? Are you talking about Sadaam shooting down warplanes BEFORE the war? I must have been on a different planet when THAT happened! Yet when Black Hawk Down occurred and Clinton attempted to increase what were originally humanitarian efforts in Somalia the Republican right wanted him to get out. When the U.S.S. Cole was attacked the FBI and CIA refused to certify it was Bin Laden and called Clinton "obsessed" with the man. They refused to have meetings regarding the danger of Bin Laden for nine months. I have my facts quite straight. Where do yours even come from??

Answer 1

Rush Limbaugh and people like him tells his followers that if you don't follow Bush blindly you are supporting terrorism and hurting the troops. That is why.

Answer 2

I was in Vietnam when Hanoi Jane climbed on the AAA gun. Trust me it helps the enemy's moral and their determination.

And ALL the people of the Middle East don't have to see you on the news screaming anti-war slogans for it to have an effect. All it takes is one person in the enemy's propaganda machine to pick it off the air and rebroadcast it to the troops. BTW, that's his or her only job, find someone they can pass off as a typical American. But go ahead and keep it up. You have freedom of speech and at the same time freedom FROM responsibility. But make no mistake, I am not Fonda Jane to this day and I hold her personally responsible for part of the carnage that was Vietnam.

As for the rest of your comments about Iraq, go back and listen to the speeches of all the politicians since before Carter and his little 444 day fiasco.

Answer 3

You cannot support the troops w/o supporting their mission.

BTW, please review recent history. Iraq, under Saddam, fired on our warplanes with regularity, and violated the cease fire terms (gulf war 1) 17 times. Get the facts.

Answer 4

It is not in politicians' best interests to allow people to think for themselves. That's why we get spin.

Answer 5

no 0NE want to thing to do with the problem until the troops are needed