Why do some people label one as unpatriotic when all we want is to get our troops home?

Question

I don't know why some people still believe that we need to keep our troops in Iraq when they keep dying everyday for an unjustified war. It has become painfully clear that it is a failed war that is only creating more anti-american sentiment and a breeding ground for terrorism. Of course politicians(Republicans mostly) keep saying that if we don't keep throwing more funds at this war we are not supporting our troops and label us as unpatriotic. What really bothers me is that there are regular people out there who ACTUALLY BELIEVE this crap. when will we wake up and realize that they are spilling innocent blood (both Iraqi and American) to protect their vested interest in that country's oil. They could care less about our troops if they didn't need them to achieve their objective. It is so clear. How can people still not see this and question OUR love for our country?

some people here seem to think the war is justified because we are taking the fight outside our borders and into a terrorist state. But i cant help but wonder if these people are using a double standard. There are countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia that are greater breeding grounds for terrorism and we have not taken action against them. This looks to me like hipocrisy and a completely discredits their argument. Is Iraq really a better and safer place with us there?

Answer 1

Because what the GOP has done up to this point, and with great success, is to boil down issues to absolutes. One is either for the war and the troops, or one is against the war, against the troops and against national security.

It is far easier to defend one's pro-war stance if the alternative is made out to be the antithesis, and complex views require greater context and political knowledge than most pro-war supporters are either willing or capable of acquiring.

Answer 2

I have been in the Army all of my life. This time around (I was in the first Gulf war as well) i was in the Iraq and Afghanistan for 3 years. You may think that may make me tend to be right wing and follow the party line. The opposite is true. Having seen it and done it I would be the first one to stand up and say "this is senseless, a waste and just bull".

Here's the thing TV (being left leaning) does not give out enough information to the American people to be able to actually make an informed decision. There are historical considerations (event recent say the 70s where we backed Iraq) and people in the middle east actually bring this in to their thinking.... even if it was 1000 years ago. Its a cultural thing. There are political ramification that will stick w. America forever.

Note that on TV that the democrats are no longer highlighting about how we are failing. This is because w. the troop surge operationally we are doing far better.... which should have been done in the first place instead of risking so many people. Not a theory, not political but just a fact. Democrats know this and have acces to the same information....... so it becomes just a political ploy.

Then it became about (no longer mentioning success) the Iraqi government not meeting their political benchmarks. Well as of this week as it has become clear that the president is sticking to it the various Iraqi sects have come back to the table. Neighboring countries are nervous because it is working but they are more nervous because the violence will spread to their countries as it already has.

America is in the process of for the first time forming an African Command. We have one for every region of the world but not Africa per se. America for years has been accused of ignoring the whole continent even w. money for AIDs. On one hand this is the next place that terrorist will and are getting a foothold. But on the other the US presence will help a lot of these people who are oppressed........ africa is not so much about ideology but economic. Have you seen this in the news? Not much I suppose.

Point is as this has gotten long......... those who label you as unpatriotic are wrong. Of course if one only see or knows so much any sensible person would wonder why one more person has to die for seemingly no reason.

I blame this on the president utimately though all of congress is to blame. The president of course can not stand up and explain all of it in an hour. But he could be presidential and stand up and say "this is why we are there". He could say sure, he screwed it up at the beginning but now we are there so all that we can do will be done. He could be presidential like say when Reagan labeled the Soviet Union as the "evil empire". There was controversy but people rallied. No politics, no anything, a line was drawn.

Answer 3

I certainly do not question the patriotism of people who want our troops to be brought home immediately.

What I question is their intelligence.

It's pretty obvious that if no more of our soldiers will die in Iraq if we pull them out. Believe it or not, everyone knows this. Harry Reid wasn't the first one to realize it, either.

However, that's just one piece of the puzzle. What will happen to Iraq if we pull out? How will that impact the rest of the Middle East? How will it impact the United States? Will the insurgency spread beyond Iraq? Does the answer to that depend on whether the insurgency is purely domestic Iraqi, or if it is also propelled by forces external to Iraq? Would the US pulling out of Iraq have any impact on the relations between the Turkish and the Kurds? Iran and Kuwait? Is Russia considering maneuvers when and if we leave Iraq? Is it just possible there are wars being prevented by our presence there, wars in which we might or might not become involved at great price at a later time? Have you even considered the global implications of our presence?

In other words, you haven't considered what happens after Iraq. If you have, you must assume that it will become a peaceful region, or at least that any problems there won't spread to anywhere we care about.

Okay, let's presume this is over oil. Is it consistent to say that our government should not take steps to protect a foreign supply of oil, and at the same time it should take steps to limit the use of oil by a free people? How is it consistent to protest Iraq on the basis of it being about oil and to demand the government try to force people to ride bicycles, drive hybrids, and turn the thermostats up in the summer and down in the winter?

I believe you are a patriot, if you say you are. However, I also think you haven't a clue what you're talking about.

Answer 4

Well, here are some absolutes, I'm just too stupid to figure anything else out evidently....

Are you in to win or to loose? Win means we live, loose means we all die or convert.

We are at war with Terror, Islamic Fundamentalist terrorist in particular. Their aim is the destruction of our country and way of life. They also want to destroy Israel. And western Europe would be nice to. They do not want to negotiate, want aid, or understanding. They want to kill every man, woman, and child that is an infidel (doesn't follow Islamic Fundamentalist doctrine). That is their goal. This is what they've been taught for the last several generations from childhood.

So we decide to fight them.

This means going to foreign shores, finding them, digging them out of their holes, and forcing them right then and there to surrender or die. Mostly they prefer to die, that way they get a free ticket to Paradise and 70 virgins to wait on them.

So we have to make a decision. Fight them there or fight them here.

There means places like Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Philippines. It means our people have to go out and fight longer and harder because this is a fight we have to win. I know people who have volunteered for three or more tours. Because they want to finish the mission. And every insurgent/terrorist we fight over there is one less trying to get here to live among us, work among us, and then blow themselves up with a body bomb, or drive a car packed with explosive to a crowded area and detonate it, or fly a plane into a building or use gas or biological weapons to take out thousands.

So, you are either for winning or loosing this thing basicly. Having the troops home is all well and good. But if we don't fight to win, what will that matter?

But what do I know? I come from a military family. Pretty soon I'll have at least half of it in harm's way. But we were just too stupid and uneducated and got stuck in Iraq like Mr. Kerry said... oh yeah, we don't forget lines like that.

Answer 5

I don't think it's unpatriotic to want the troops to come home,but when the first thing out of your mouth is that we are there for oil you totally destroy your credit with a conspiracy theory. If we went there for the sole purpose of taking their oil we would not have handed their government back to them we would have said this country is now a U.S. territory, and it's sad that you can't see that.

Answer 6

because 'bring our troops home now' is easier said than done. if congress gets their way and we have to bring our troops home in 120 days, our troops will be sitting ducks. the insurgency will know too much about the redeployment and will mobilize to kill us when we're most vulnerable: packing up our equipment to get it through customs.

i think it's unpatriotic because i think people who say 'bring our troops home now' don't understand what it takes to bring 160,000 people home from iraq. it took three months to get my small unit of 8 people out of there because three divisions were rotating home at the same time. there's only so much space and time to clean, pack, pass customs inspection and secure air passage. i firmly believe that BOTHN will cause more deaths than redeploying in a slow and classified manner.

Answer 7

as a combat veteran i feel that i can answer this question in an informed manner.Have you stopped to consider the thoughts and ideals of those in the military serving in Iraq? the "enlightened ones" who have not experienced war can never put forth their argument in a way that,to me,makes me change my support.We are there to give those in that region a chance at some form of a democratic government.When you have traveled in my shoes and seen the hopeless of an oppressed people,then you can tell me we are wrong.Ask the troops,not the politicians and idealists,if we are doing the right thing.Maybe then you can formulate a well rounded opinion.

Answer 8

Because most of the unpatriotic cowards in this country doesn't know what war is all about, until you been there yourself. You just can't get up and leave, just because things aren't going well! It will create worse things in the years to come if we leave now! And the war is justified. Don't get caught up in the cut and run liberal coward bullsh!t!

Answer 9

Be specific with what you say. I would like our troops to return home safely. Indicates that you place the safety of our troops ahead of politics.

Answer 10

Believe me all the troops want to come home. But, the fervor of the "bring them home" crowd is called into question when one reads the reasoning behind their position. Yours is but another example of that. The military operation in Iraq isn't about oil. Over 80% of Iraqi oil exports are under contract to Compagnie Petro De Francais, a French oil company. Even before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Iraqi oil constituted less than 4% of our oil imports. As for Iraq being a breeding ground for terrorists, most of the terrorists we have dealt with in that country are non-Iraqis. They are natives of other countries on the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.
As for the war being unjustified, the Iraq Liberation Act (Public Law 105-338) was passed in 1998. The reasons set forth, calling for the liberation of that country, were mostly repeated in the Congressional Authorization for the use of military force which passed in 2002. as for the troops dying, one in five has done so from non-combat causes. In fact, between 1980 and 1984, over 9,000 military personnel died on active duty at a time when no one was shooting at them. Yet, I cannot recall any national anguish over that state of affairs.
It's not that I consider the folks who want to pull the troops out as unpatriotic.They just don't realize that our Salafist Jihadist enemy means to destroy the Jahili world of corruption and hedonism he sees around him. He already accepts that this is Dar-Al_Harb (the world at war). He believes in the hersey of "Takfir" which says it's O.K. for Muslim to kill Muslim.
No, you're not unpatriotic. You're just another captive of an American media and political climate which has fed you a steady diet of crap.