Why do many conservatives think that if you criticize the war,, you hate our troops?

Question

I actually had people tell me I hate America and our troops, just because I think the War was a bad idea. Where does this type of thinking come from?

Answer 1

It's a ploy. They like to play patriotism, which is bow down and do what the President says and don't question him. Patriotism, in their eyes, is flags, "God Bless Ameria", ad nauseum.

This country was based on the principles of freedom and liberty. These include the right to question our government when we believe that it is in the wrong. You are to be commended; you are actually much more patriotic than they are for living up to the princples upon which this great nation was founded.

Answer 2

No one has answered your question. I'll try to explain their position. It's because they see all of the people in America who speak out against our current military action as emboldening the enemy, harming the effort of the soldiers, harming our place in the world, and causing a plummeting morale for the Iraqi people. How can one claim to support the troops if that person says that what they are doing is illegal and immoral? That's not very supportive. And if we don't lead the way as a people in openly supporting their actions, then the rest of the world will not support us either, including the Iraqi people who our soldiers are busting their butts and spilling their blood to protect. Our soldiers are out there every day risking their lives and removed from their homes and their families so that people at home can claim that their sacrifice is unnecessary and wrong, and then speak out of the other side of their mouths and claim to "support" them.

The rest of the world takes its cues from us. If they look to us and see our people screaming, "This is illegal, immoral, and wrong, and our President, the most powerful man on earth, is a raving lunatic and a war criminal," then they will follow our lead and we become weaker as a people and as a nation for it.

Al-Qaida has already publicly stated their goals- to dishearten the American people and cause them to turn against their own government causing an internal collapse and our withdrawal from the region. They learned this from Vietnam. It seems to be working. Bin Laden said that Americans don't have the resolve to take them on and do not have the stomach for bloodshed. He said that if he can wear down our people, they will win this conflict and live to regroup and plan more atrocities for another day. They are exceedingly patient, and we are not. Whether Iraq has anything to do with Al-Qaida or not (Ever heard of "Al-Qaida in Iraq?"), our anti-war actions only prove Bin-Laden right and our enemies are emboldened by our own people. That's why you get accused of hating our troops and our country.

Answer 3

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else"
- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

“ Victory means exit strategy and it’s important to explain to us what the exit strategy is.” –George W. Bush, Governor of Texas 1999

“If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal, and an exit strategy.” Karen Hughes, Speaking on behalf of Presidential Candidate George W. Bush 1999


War is a profession by which a man cannot live honorably; an employment by which the soldier, if he would reap any profit, is obliged to be false, rapacious, and cruel.
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)

I cannot believe that war is the best solution. No one won the last war and no one will win the next.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Edward Abbey, Patriotism quotes:
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.

There was never a good war or a bad peace.
Benjamin Franklin
Source:Letter to Josiah Quincy [September 11, 1783]

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Patriotism quotes:
Here in America we are descended in spirit from revolutionaries and rebels -- men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine.

Sidney Hook, Patriotism quotes:
To silence criticism is to silence freedom.

Answer 4

"Or have you ever cons finally discovered the version between helping a controversy and helping your us of a?" I completely believe what you're saying, and that i extremely cherished the fact I quoted. for an prolonged time, radical conservatives have been asserting a majority of those issues; truthfully, that in case you disagree with the president in any way, or in case you refuse to blindly carry on with our government without taking the time to question, you hate u.s.. All that's is powerful wing propaganda. You pay attention plenty approximately left wing propaganda, as though the final would not use it. that's SO fake. the final wing makes use of it basically as plenty, and between the flaws they do is this. while you're: Liberal Democrat self sufficient Hippie Environmentalist gay Muslim Jewish Peace Loving Pacifist Buddhist Wiccan In prefer of non secular Equality in choose of government suggestions Disagree with the President Protest Disagree with government controlled morals Activist logician Hindu help females's rights (the record ought to circulate on consistently) then you certainly hate u.s.. you're a Communist. Or an enemy sympathizer. no longer something ought to be farther from the actuality. that's one in all those ridiculous attamept to discredit and smear all people, which you think of people would not fall for it. yet they do. Have they finally discovered the version between helping a controversy and helping a rustic? I doubt it. they're too busy attempting to make all people look like they belong on the axis of evil.

Answer 5

Why criticize the war? Why was attacking Iraq a bad idea? Our troops need our verbal support, not images of the sheeple marching in the streets holding placards with sayings like "No Blood for Oil".

BTW, if it was "for oil", why haven't we taken over their supply?

Answer 6

Because it's easier to attack you directly, and hurl those insults, than to actuall address the merits of the points being raised.

When it's possible to discredit the speaker of a message, you never have to actually adress the merits of the message.

It's a common political tactic. The last refuge for those unable to actually engage in intellectual debate on a topic.

Answer 7

Good point. This kind of thinking is fostered by Fox News.
The people who live in 'Hannity's America' think like this.

Answer 8

Nowhere good. Opposing the war may be foolish; it is not disloyal.

Answer 9

because rush and orielly tells them that...mindless sheep cannot think for themselves so they follow the loudest noise they hear no matter the distortion within

Answer 10

from ignorant people you know i get that a lot too