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Supporting the troops?

Posted 18 Jan 2006 in Iraq, military, patriotism, victory, war

A few weeks ago, Unsomnambulist (a regular commenter here) sent me a good question in an email. Actually, now that I look, it was back in mid-November. Like many other things in my life, I meant to get to it but it’s just taken a while. So here it is:

RV:

I am always grappling with the concept of “supporting our troops”, and how its become a rhetorical thing to say. Just wanted to pass it by you. I may contact a couple other bloggers about this, and post a report. But, I think you’ve got a fresh POV most of the time, so wanted to engage it with you.

When the Iraq war began, and even in the days leading up to the invasion, I was pretty annoyed with war protesters. I believed that regardless of how you felt about the war, it was, for the time being, inevitable, and to do anything but root on our troops was gross and negligent. How can you support our troops and say they shouldn’t be there in the first place? Isn’t this like the parent claiming to support their kid who’s gone off to college, but constantly calling for them to come home?

My opinion on this has changed over time, and gone to both sides of the political spectrum.

Now I’m wondering what the hell “supporting our troops” means even to your casual citizen, even more so to the right wingers who listen to Rush on the radio and then flip on Fox News at home. Is support merely agreeing that the soldiers should stay in harms way? Is support not asking tough questions and playing devils advocate?

All the anti-war people mean is that they don’t hold the soldiers personally responsible for the conflict, that when they come home it’ll be with a better reception than it was after Vietnam.

I think, by and large, for the most part few people are really “supporting the troops”. Quite simply, support for the troops should be the same no matter your view of the war. Real support, I believe, is in the people who send care packages to soldiers – donating to the USO or other programs that boost morale and their lives when away – supporting bills that provide for veteran benefits and better pay for enlisted soldiers – and, finally, keeping an eye on whats going on and having an active dialogue about the conflict.

Anything less, really, is total bullshit.

Whadya think?

Markland/Unsomnambulist

I think he makes some excellent points.

I think “supporting the troops” can mean a lot of different things to different people. And like Unsom said, it’s mainly been reduced to a bumper sticker mentality for the majority of Americans. (sidenote: I wrote my list of what I think it means, and when I looked back at the original letter when it came time to make this post, I found our lists were nearly identical.)

Support in the form of encouragement to individual troops. Whether it’s a care package or letter. Or even buying a drink for a soldier you see in your local pub. (and yes, this individual support can also take the form of those annoying car magnet ribbons… I’d imagine it’s not a bad thing when a soldier sees hundreds of cars claiming “We support you.”)

But, obviously, it should be more than just slapping a magnet on your car. Support means putting actions to that sentiment.

Support in the form of making sure those troops returning home receive a better reception than was given to their Vietnam-era forebears.

Support in the form of helping charities and organizations which benefit active troops as well as veterans.

Support in the form of making sure our troops and veterans receive the benefits promised them.

Support in the form of equipment and weapons (which means finances) needed to accomplish their missions.

And I think a large part of supporting the troops means supporting the fact that their commanding officers have them in harm’s way. And offering the moral support and patience to let them do the job assigned to them: helping them complete their mission with pride.

Dissent and debate are the right of every American. But it doesn’t fall under the heading of supporting the troops. Because public demonstrations and impassioned statements against the mission our soldiers are carrying out become news stories used to demoralize them. The signs and soundbites become anti-American propaganda. There are ways to go about making one’s voice heard within our government without becoming a pawn of the media as well as our enemies.

Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT

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