Can you support the troops and not the mission?

[1feral1]

Firstly, don't be so condecending about blowing cigar smoke.

Try conducting a decent argument without being a wanker.

Now you did not answer my above question - what would YOU, yes, you do if you were being sent to Iraq? Fight or flight???

In a nutshell Cam, the cause is united. We fight against one greater evil whether its in AFG or Iraq, or The Philippines, or Indonesia. Its a global war, and in time may indeed widen into other countries.

You seem to want to support the war in AFG, yet not in Iraq. During the cold months, fighters come down from AFG to Iraq, and vice versa in the summer months.

In Baghdad (and other areas), after firefights, the locals would come and collect their own dead. The ones left lying, spralled out in the streets were foreign fighters from many islamic countries, yes including AFG. No one claimed them, but their cowardly carcasses were taken away by the authorities, and who knows where they ended up.

So, in my view, your in or your out! You can't have your cake and eat it too.


Regards,

Wes

 

[Brad Sallows]

>I will always feel free to support of oppose any war I wan't to but will never attack the soldiers involved for merely doing their jobs.

All those who claim to "support the troops" by virtue of not sh!tting on them should realize that there is a patch of neutral ground between "oppose" and "support" which is neither, and then be honest about which part of the landscape they occupy.

 

[tomahawk6]

Anyone who thinks that you can support the troops but not the mission is a liar. When someone says that to me I simply ask what have they done to support the troops ?Have they sent emails to the troops ? Or a care package ? Or frequent flyer miles ? Perhaps they have attended a viewing or a funeral of a fallen soldier ? Maybe they have bought a soldier and his family a meal or thanked a soldier at an airport for his service ? In most cases the response is silence. The fact is the left is more sympathetic to the enemy than to our own cause.

 

[observor 69]

Anyone who thinks that you can support the troops but not the mission is a liar. When someone says that to me I simply ask what have they done to support the troops ?Have they sent emails to the troops ? Or a care package ? Or frequent flyer miles ? Perhaps they have attended a viewing or a funeral of a fallen soldier ? Maybe they have bought a soldier and his family a meal or thanked a soldier at an airport for his service ? In most cases the response is silence. The fact is the left is more sympathetic to the enemy than to our own cause.

Seeing as the left, which I take to mean the Democratic Party, is pushing to have the forces withdrawn from Iraq wouldn't that make them friends of the troops.

Having a problem here, would you explain to me what "our own cause" is exactly?

 

[tomahawk6]

By supporting withdrawing from Iraq = support for the troops ? As we are in Iraq they dont support the troops now, only if we withdraw ? The left in the US has staked out a position where defeat of the US is preferable to victory. No way around it to withdraw from Iraq as we did in Vietnam will be seen as a defeat. Our cause is to see the fledgeling governments of Iraq and Afghanistan stand on their feet. If we withdraw from either place prematurely, democracy will most likely fail.

 

[Brad Sallows]

>Seeing as the left, which I take to mean the Democratic Party, is pushing to have the forces withdrawn from Iraq wouldn't that make them friends of the troops.

It was always my impression that "the troops" prefer to see some lasting tangible good bought with their blood, and that "support" meant something along the lines of having the unwavering will and economic might of the nation lined up behind them.

 

[tomahawk6]

The reason that the US left cannot defund the war is because the depth of public support for the mission.
So to that extent the US public supports the troops. There are a number of active programs that send care packages, phone cards, air conditioners to name a few to the troops. Soldiers Angels and Fisher House are two programs that support the wounded and they couldnt do it without donations. The troops know they have the support of the public. What angers the troops is they see they are making a difference which go unreported by the media and they see their politicians undercutting their efforts in the war. The public is fickle and support today can turn into peace demonstrations tomorrow,but most of us remember 9-11 and the news reports of terror attacks in the UK and FBI arrests of wannabe terrorists keep the public's focus where it should be. If we pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan the bad guys will follow us home. We fight overseas so we wont have to in our homeland.

 

[cameron]

If you had not sent a condescending post referring to cigars and pipes, which are totally irrelavant to the issue at hand, I would not have to respond in an equally condescending manner.  As for the 'wanker' bit, why the need for name calling?  Ironically i'm sure if I were to respond in kind, as i'm sorely tempted to, I would be the one to get banned.  What would I do if sent to Iraq? I would go and fight.  When one takes an oath and puts on the uniform, it is understood that you may be sent into harm's way.  You don't get to conveniently choose where harm's way is.

Yes I know about the fighters who move from Iraq to A'stan and vice versa.  This is one of the reasons why it was a stupid idea to invade Iraq in the first place.  Another front has been opened up for Al Qaeda and other like-minded lunatics to live out their dream of fighting and killing western soldiers.  The war in Iraq has also provided a rallying cry to help Al Qaeda draw more recruits, while at the same time drawing much needed manpower and other resources from A'stan.  One other thing you need to remember Wesley, before Iraq was invaded, neither AQ nor Iran had any influence there, they now do.

 

[1feral1]

What would I do if sent to Iraq? I would go and fight.  When one takes an oath and puts on the uniform, it is understood that you may be sent into harm's way.  You don't get to conveniently choose where harm's way is.

One other thing you need to remember Wesley, before Iraq was invaded, neither AQ nor Iran had any influence there, they now do.

Question answered.

The lst bit about AQ etc, well I disagree there, there was much more sinister stuff going on even with other terr orgs and a power struggle between Iran and Iraq. Afterall, don't forget the 1,000,000 soldiers killed in the 80-88 war.

Al, these godless murderers hold hands for a common cause.


Cheers,

Wes