In what way, if any, do you support the troops?

[armyowalgreens]

Poll question: In what way, if any, do you support the troops?

I recently got into it with someone about "hero worship". I attacked the position that you have to support the troops no matter what. It seems that this general support for the men and women of the armed forces is quite popular in the United States. I do think soldiers are capable of being heroes. But it bothers me that we do not examine their contributions as much as other people simply because they are enlisted.

This is an especially relevant topic considering the current actions taken by our military. It's becoming fairly obvious that most of the modern conflicts we are involved with could be considered "unjustified" at best and "horrifying" at worst. So would it not be reasonable to assume that it's immoral to willingly participate in such actions?

Do we assume that people who enlist don't know any better? I think that excuse would have made sense at some point in time. But it seems to be losing it's viability as we get deeper and deeper in this mess. The same goes for those who enlisted long ago. There may be legal actions taken against those who refuse to fight. But is that a good enough excuse to justify participation?

I know this may seem hyperbolic without tangible references. But I am not trying to be an ass about. I promise.


Feel free to explain your position.

[YOY]

1. The military is a tool. It is neither good nor evil. The hand that controls it decides that.

To work in it is not some guarantee of moral superiority or dedication to service as and vet or currently enlisted person will tell you.

To say one "supports the troops" seems just like a vacuous statement. Sure I hope everyone comes home safe and that the few bad apples won't make it through training but what am I really capable of doing for them that would make them infallible?

It's all in the hands of those who direct and use them.

[BoneDaddy]

2. Again, like most things there is a middle ground

The term "support the troops" is nothing more than a rallying cry for the right to make their point unassailable. Do I support our men and women, mostly regular people trying to eke out a living, of course I do. I had a student of mine whose 43 year old mother was in Iraq for a year. Do I support her and the vast majority of her fellow soldiers...HELL YEAH


But I may not support policy or the actions of those who act outside of international or military law. Why does it have to be so black or white?

[armyowalgreens]

4. I'm not trying to make it black and white. I'm trying to do the exact opposite.

But I think it's wrong to assume that "trying to eke out a living" is justification for participating in immoral conflicts.

[BoneDaddy]

6. I was agreeing with you

and I agree with your last statement, that is why those who have no other recourse other than the military should not be painted with a broad brush. And I think that the real picture is addressing what you said re: immoral conflicts. In total agreement. I was responding more to the arguements that are out there re: "support the troops" all or none.

[armyowalgreens]

7. Oh okay. Sorry I must have misread.

[BoneDaddy]

60. No worries

I can see how you could have seen my words...problem with this venue, cant tell intention.

[rgbecker]

3. Give me the realistic worse case scenario.

Nobody answers the call to go to Afghanistan. Nobody. No Americans kicking in doors, killing Taliban or anybody else. Just tell me, realistically, what happens to Americans, here in America, if nobody, no "Troops" go. What do you think? Domino theory? More hijackers? Bombs in airports? Muslims raping our wives? Just wondering.

[armyowalgreens]

5. I honestly do not know exactly what would happen. I don't believe in the domino theory...

At least not wholly.

I think we may be doing more damage by entering into these conflicts.

[maxsolomon]

8. I was FOR the war, but AGAINST the troops

-Bill Hicks
RIP

[slackmaster]

9. My brother and several people I know are active duty military

I support them unconditionally.

[armyowalgreens]

10. No matter what they do, you will support them?

[slackmaster]

93. Yes, I know them well enough to trust them to always do the right thing

Do you have anyone you trust that much in your life?

[TahitiNut]

11. I support those who serve honorably unconditionally.

It is VERY possible to serve honorably in a politically dishonorable war.

[armyowalgreens]

13. It's also a morally dishonerable war...

I don't see how participating in it in any way is honorable.

[Critters2]

28. It's an unconstitutional war.

Fighting in it is a violation of their oath to defend the Constitution.

[proteus_lives]

31. Ahhh, the black/white thinking of youth.

Vietnam was a morally dishonorable war.

My father is a Vietnam Vet and he's one of the most honorable men on the planet. But by your thinking he's dishonored along with millions of the men and women he served and the hundreds of thousands serving today. I won't say they are all heroes but are you going to say all of them are morally dishonored?

[armyowalgreens]

36. It depends on how much they knew when they were taking part in the conflict...

If they knew what they were doing was wrong, of course they were acting in a dishonorable manner. But that does not necessarily make them dishonorable people.

I've done some dishonorable things in my life, just like everyone else.

But any argument of dishonorable behavior must be prefaced with evidence that proves the person knowingly participated in a dishonorable situation.

[Metta]

12. Wanting them to come home unharmed to good jobs & adequate health care. More than what gov't wants.

Much more.

[Ron Green]

14. What the hell does "support the troops" mean, anyway? Bake them cookies?

Smile wistfully at their macho "hoo-ah!" posturing? Wish they could all come home and study war no more? Hope for universal conscription so they won't be so much like mercenaries?

I just don't know what "support the troops" means.

[cherokeeprogressive]

56. I "support the troops" with a cash donation every year.

Your attitude toward members of the Armed Forces shines as bright as the sun. It also makes this veteran more than a little sad.

Believe it or not, there was a time when service to country was considered an honorable thing. For most, that meant being available wherever or whenever your government needed you, for whatever reason. THAT meant volunteering in some branch of the Armed Forces. This feeling goes back many generations on both sides of my family.

Whether or not you believe it, they do much more than kill people and blow things up. When I served in the Navy during peacetime, every time we pulled into port there was a voluntary effort to support the local community. Sometimes it was as simple as helping paint an orphanage or some other action meant to improve the lives of people less fortunate than us. Many Sailors volunteered their liberty time, when they could have been out drinking themselves stupid or seeing the local sights.

That said, when I served, supporting a wife and newborn child solely on what the military paid was nearly impossible. More than once, we found ourselves either unable to make the rent or buy groceries. When that happened, there was an organization there to give us a hand up. Back then, I knew it only as "Navy Relief". Today it's known as "The Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society". It provides interest free loans in time of need, to servicemembers that need it. They came through for me, without question, three different times.

I send them a cash donation every year, because I know there are people who are doing something they believe in, and being compensated far too little for it.

So, if you want to "support the troops" in a meaningful way, I've included a link that will allow you to do so.

http://www.nmcrs.org/index.html

[Critters2]

86. I send them 4 checks a year...they're called income taxes.

And more than I'd like goes to the military. That money is supposed to be paying soldiers and sailors.

[Ron Green]

99. Don't be sad, Fellow Veteran

(I'm a disabled US Army Vet who served from 1966 to 1969) that my words seem to show a less-than-charitable attitude toward members of our Armed Forces. I want nothing more than for the US military to accurately reflect the hopes and dreams of our entire population, which means NO wars of choice or convenience, NO "all-volunteer" culture that isolates enlistees from the necessary healthy dissent found in the ranks during my time in uniform, NO mindless flag-waving by a population disconnected from the reality of what their military is really doing to serve imperial and corporate interests around the world.

For all this to happen, we'd have to support the troops in a completely different way: Instead of cheering them on in their miserable and misbegotten mission, we'd have to pull back the curtain of FOX news and allow them to suffer the reality of the disconnect between what they thought they were signing up for and what their masters really want.

[Arugula Latte]

85. Ron Green -- I always thought that was a stupid, empty slogan. "Support the Troops."

I agree with you -- What does that even mean? Who knows.

Putting stupid yellow ribbons on your car surely doesn't qualify.

[kenny blankenship]

15. Some try to be eloquent supporters of the troops, while others seek to be athletic supporters

I find most of them, either way, to be goddamn hypocrites. Most people I've met who claim the distinction of troop supporter do nothing in fact to support the troops but mouth pieties about the troops and how they are the best type of American and how Muslins and liberals don't deserve the freedom the troops are bringing to them. Most of them from what I can tell do nothing more than the rest of us, which is to pay our taxes--and they COMPLAIN about that. How much they would love the troops if they ran into them out of uniform is doubtful.

I support the troops' right to come home alive and safe as soon as physically possible. When they get killed in an illegal war it's murder of Americans by Americans. That's the way it was in 2003 and nothing has made our wars less illegal in the meantime.

Support the troops! has never meant anything more than support the war --and shut the fuck up if you don't.

[G_j]

34. #1

[Political Heretic]

Support the troops as a political catchphrase translates into support the war.

I agree.

[rucky]

64. heh. "athletic supporters"

[subcomhd]

16. I ALWAYS support the troops

The politicians and the fool's errand missions they often send them on - not so much.

[Retired AF Dem]

20. Ding ding ding

We have a winner. A true soldier does not want war since he or she will born all of the burden.

[armyowalgreens]

21. But soldiers have the option of not fighting.

Yet they do it anyway. Doesn't a certain amount of responsibility fall on them for their actions?

[subcomhd]

22. They have a responsibility to refuse illegal orders

And just disagreeing with the mission doesn't count. But if an NCO ordered them to shoot prisoners, they can be prosecuted for following that order. But their responsibility to not fight ended when they enlisted. This isn't an army of conscripts like Vietnam.

[armyowalgreens]

24. But you do agree that the war is illegal, right?

I'm not understanding how one can justify participation.

[subcomhd]

26. Iraq, yes. afghanistan, no

But it is our civilian government's decision to determine that. not the grunts'

[Retired AF Dem]

23. And whose army have you been in?

Don't fight, life is prison, what choice should I make? In the military you go where your Govt tells you to go. The best you can do is to be Honorable on the battlefield.

[armyowalgreens]

29. You do not automatically receive life in prison. Sentences vary from mild to severe.

To answer your question, which might I add kind of comes off as snarky, I have never been in the armed forces.

I don't understand how you can somehow abandon your morality simply because you are enlisted. That doesn't make any sense. Simply being on the battle field could qualify as an immoral act.

[subcomhd]

32. But to allow your soldiers to decide what war they will fight

is not an option. And it can't be. The German invasion of Poland was immoral and illegal. at the end of the war we didn't try those soldiers. We did hang their commanders. In fact the German grunts still alive draw a pension.

[armyowalgreens]

38. That is one of the many issues I have with military thought...

It is true that there must be homogeneity in order for the military to act efficiently. Otherwise leadership breaks down and the shit hits the fan.

But that also allows for GREAT wrongs to be committed that people simply write off as unintentional consequences.

I mean I hate to bring up Nazis, but the actions taken by the soldiers of the third reich are a perfect example. When you do not question authority or give up your own morality to keep the machine moving forward, you run the risk of implicating yourself in horrific acts.


It's a quagmire that I do not have an answer for. But I do not think the answer is blind obedience. It just can't be.

[subcomhd]

41. Think of it this way

allowing (or condoning) soldiers deciding which wars they will fight in based upon their own ethics or beliefs undermines (ney, destroys) civilian control of the military.

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. As a soldier in any military in the modern age you have a RIGHT, indeed a DUTY

to disobey an illegal order.

People do this, more often than you think.

Problem is that troops cannot decide where they deploy unless that deployment is clearly an illegal order. I got away with it in a very special and technical circumstance. So you get a clue, because you don't have one, I could have been lined against the wall and shot for refusing orders in time of war to report for general mobilization.

There were VERY SPECIFIC circumstances that made that particular order illegal, and I had backup from my command. Otherwise we would not be having this conversation. Troops in the US military don't have that option right now. The reasons are very technical in the realm of military and international law, as well as mandates by several international organizations. For Iraq you may want to look at the SOFA agreements, and for Afghanistan at Article Five of the NATO Charter, as well as the UN Security Council Resolutions.

And when a TROOP or OFFICER refuses to obey an order, he or she better line every duck in a a damn row and be willing to risk more than just a bad boy, don't ever do this again. No, it is not I quit boss, see you later.

by the way, here is a clue that most civies don't understand, there is no morality in war. There never was and there will never be. The only reason WW II was a just war, was merely accidental.

As to support the troops. I send them care packages, I know what they are doing MOST OF THE TIME has very specific rules. If any of them does something that violates the rules to keep this a little less violent than it could be, well then... should be prosecuted, but especially those officers who gave those orders.

By the way... E-1 to E-3 are expected to salute, say Aye aye sir and march smartly by. E-4 and above truly should know better... and Officers all should know better.

But since you have not served... you really not know the mentality of this, or why things are done.

Oh and usual disclaimer, NOT the US army, or any branch of the US Military... but hey, left, left, left right left... still applies. Or for that matter saluting the garbage pail when the DI ordered the company to do such.

[Retired AF Dem]

33. My thought is

You havent been is the postion to make the decision. It is one thing being all high and moral on the internet and another of being in the postion to go to war or go to prison. Even though it might not be life in prison it will be a life of crappy jobs afterwards no matter which party is in power. Would you really want a military to tell a president to fuck off because they dont like him? Whats next? the Military taking over the Govt.

[armyowalgreens]

40. I think you are getting a little off topic with military coup d'états...

That is an extremely complicated scenario that requires a lot of information to make an argument one way or the other.


I want soldiers to think about the consequences of their actions instead of simply worrying about whether or not he or she is following orders. If you are ordered to burn down a village and kill the residents, are you somehow justified in doing so simply because it was an official order? That's ridiculous.

[Retired AF Dem]

43. I would refuse to burn down a village

since that would be an illegal order from an officer. I would still be in country though by the wishes of my Govt. Complicated isn't it?

[subcomhd]

47. Right!

A soldier/marine/sailor/airman has no business refusing deployment IMHO. That is contrary to civilian control. But he has a DUTY not to burn a village.

[EFerrari]

17. I don't support right wing frames. n/t

[subcomhd]

35. Hi EF!!

What does frames mean?

[EFerrari]

39. It means a way to phrase an issue so that you look at it

in a way that makes you agree with the speaker. If we talk about "supporting the troops", we don't talk about other things like the legality of the war or how the troops are actually treated by the Pentagon. It's like putting a frame on one part of a picture and not on another part.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-issue-framing.htm

[armyowalgreens]

42. I couldn't figure out a better way to summarize the OP.

I don't like putting bias in my titles, but I couldn't word it any better for some reason.

[EFerrari]

53. The frame is compelling, that's why they use it.

Who can disagree with supporting our service people?!

But by the same token, why would anyone even ask? The frame is underpinned by: some people don't support our service people or the left doesn't support them. Which is propaganda.

The thing is, as soon as you use their frame, you pretty much lose. It's a shell game. The idea that the left is anti-uniformed people or weak an national security is just like the idea that Bush kept us safe. It's spin.

[subcomhd]

55. Who can disagree with supporting our service people?!

Exactly. I have marched against the Iraq War and sent care packages to the women and men fighting it. So I "support the troops" and so do you EF. Don't let the wingers own the phrase.

[subcomhd]

44. Okay

Well I have always fought allowing 'I support the troops" to be a RW frame. They blur it to mean supporting the troops means you have to support whatever ill-conceived adventures the politicians send them on. "Support the Troops, bring them Home" has been a mantra of mine to counter their attempt to make it a right wing frame.

[Kaleko]

18. I support the awakening of every enlisted man and woman to the truth

of what they are actually fighting for.

One helpful quote:


"Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy."

- Henry Kissinger

[armyowalgreens]

19. I like your position.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

46. A quote I have cited several times.

[Kaleko]

58. That quote should have been flashing in bright neon letters

in every town square at night. Right next to "LIVE NUDE GIRLS" and "Fatburger King."

There's your choice: Get maimed and killed serving as agents of death for the war profiteering class, or get a hard on and maybe some pleasure serving the life-giving force.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. I pay taxes

:-)

[proteus_lives]

27. Yes, I support the troops.

The soldiers, medics, pilots, mechanics, Sgts, Capts and whatnot do not decide where they go and why they are going there. It's foolish to be negative towards them when you're mad at Bush and Cheney.

"It seems that this general support for the men and women of the armed forces is quite popular in the United States." For good reason, we pulled ourselves away from the British because of soldiers, slaves were freed by soldiers, fascism was defeated by soldiers. The other side is the questionable conflicts (which still have their supporters) But I can't find reason to have distaste for soldiers who served in Vietnam, the central and south american conflicts (both outright and clandestine) GWI, Iraq and Afghanistan. What choice did they have in the grand scheme of things? A soldier may refuse an unlawful order (and they sometimes do) but it's just as often open to interpretation.

"Do we assume that people who enlist don't know any better?" That's a stereotype I hate. It's elitist and idiotic. People join the armed forces for a million different reasons like any other job or career. There is nothing wrong with being in the armed forces just like there is nothing wrong with being a cop, lawyer, doctor, etc.

"This is an especially relevant topic considering the current actions taken by our military. It's becoming fairly obvious that most of the modern conflicts we are involved with could be considered "unjustified" at best and "horrifying" at worst. So would it not be reasonable to assume that it's immoral to willingly participate in such actions?"

It's open to debate but many, many people do feel like the conflicts are justified. I for example disagree with Iraq but supported the invasion of Afghanistan. I don't think it's immoral to serve neither do hundreds of thousands of soldiers or we would have alot more AWOL cases.

As for the hero worship thing, it can go to far but they do deserve a measure of respect because they volunteer for a dangerous job. There are "hero" soldiers, good soldiers, average soldiers, bad soldiers because they are human and the flaws don't disappear when they put on their uniforms. I think people react negatively or positively because of the difference of it. Most people wouldn't put themselves in harm's way like soldiers do. Soldiers are also the ones who pay for are mistakes and policy decisions. Before 9/11 the most common anti-US terrorist target was the overseas military base.

Meat and potatoes: Members of the armed forces are not responsible for the decisions of government, criminal soldiers should be arrested and tried for whatever crimes they might have committed. But the majority of troops who serve with honor aren't "immoral" for serving and deserve a measure of respect for putting themselves in harm's way.

[Critters2]

30. I'm a religious pacifist.

Can't, in good conscience, support those who use violence.

[subcomhd]

61. cool beagle

Mine is 4 months old (not to hijack the thread)

[LWolf]

37. Other.

I support the men and women, the "troops" who serve the nation.

I do not support most of those who decide when to use the troops for what purposes, because I very rarely agree with either the way they are used, or the purposes they are used for.

[Political Heretic]

45. Explain to me what "support " means.

By the way:

"Do we assume that people who enlist don't know any better?"

What you are failing to take into account is the class draft.

[ZombieHorde]

48. I don't know, please check out the link. nt

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6378233

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

50. Being a "troop" doesn't release one from being responsible for his/her actions.

I "support" the troops in the same way that I "support" any other public servant. Cops, firemen, politicians, etc. There are laws, rules, and expectations of common human decency.

"Just following orders" doesn't negate those expectations.

[patrice]

51. Doesn't absolve you from murder either, though WE are also complicit. I support the troops by workin

g to get them brought home.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

52. Exactly.

The "troops" are the ultimate, and expendable, pawns in the hands of politicians and "leaders" who always have justifications for sending them to kill and die.

[patrice]

54. It's a little hard for me to say this, but, in a certain way, they pay the Ultimate Price, whether

they live or die, an even higher price than those they kill: the Troops have to live on robbed of their humanity.

Have you ever experienced depersonalization, true alienation from what you are? Anomie? It's HELL. No wonder so many are killing themselves. It's a very sad thing to see those so idealistic, though completely MISTAKEN, and so utterly and completely RAPED.

The only thing that prevents me from equating them with DEAD IRAQI CHILDREN is that "our" guys had a Choice. They used it wrong, but they had a choice nonetheless.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

57. I spent 4 years as potential cannon-fodder.

It took awhile to figure out that I, and my comrades, were entirely expendable at the whim of politicians and generals. That we could be ordered to kill other people, people we didn't know, had nothing against, and might even have liked. And, that despite the the platitudes about disobeying "illegal" orders we had little choice in the matter.

The military that I was in, went to great lengths to dehumanize the potential "enemy" and us. They were the "enemy" not individual human beings, we were tools in a machine larger than us as individuals. We were reduced to mindless, conscienceless, trigger pullers, to be punished if we dare refuse.

[patrice]

91. I was in the Air Gaurd for almost 10 years. Trained with all other branches, because I was

an "electronic news gatherer" with an air re-fueling group. I never saw combat, but I spent all of my tech school, which was run by the Army, with Marines who did and they were comfortable partying with me (since I was a little older and still good looking at the time and I had a couple of stripes). I learned that there was nothing glamorous or inspiring about their lives. It's a job. They don't think about anything.

Later as a public high school teacher, who taught seniors primarily, I saw how it was that young people are harvested in the Spring each year: "need something to believe in?", "want some help getting your life straightened out?", "how about showing the world it shouldn't have kicked you around so much?", "afraid you won't be able to find a job?", "bored?", "want to travel?", "feel like a failure?", "mad at your girl/boy friend?"

My late husband's son is an ex-Marine Close Quarters Combat Instructor, who spent either 2 or 3 tours in Afghanistan. Enlisted on impulse. Of course, he doesn't talk much about what he's seen, but his attitude toward the Military in general is clearly bad now, and he has become even much more of a Libertarian than his Dad was.

The only people I know who have idealistic attitudes about the Military are a couple of lifers in my family, now retired with full benefits, who never saw combat, one a desk jockey, the other an engineer of somesort turned TI. Both of them are very prone to delivering sermons about the holiness of "Free Market" Capitalism and the skullduggery of Unions.

[katandmoon]

59. I don't support the troops. I don't work against them. But I have no special respect for them.

Why should I? It's not as if they were drafted and forced into it. They signed up voluntarily so they must have thought there was something in it for them. They are welcome to it, whatever it is. But I don't admire their decision, I think it's nuts, and I think women are especially nuts to sign up for the 99.9% testosterone-fueled crazy and violence.

[Skittles]

62. I've sent them over a thousand postcards in the past five years

and dozens of care packages, many of them filled with items for Iraqi and Afghan children. I don't discuss politics at all.

[Critters2]

79. Do you the same for Peace Corps volunteers,

or members of the diplomatic corps? Or is there something special about those who wear uniforms?

[Skittles]

92. I'm a vet and GI brat

so yeah, military life is second nature to me

I do support others like Doctors without Borders and World Wildlife Fund

[rucky]

63. Just like any other group of people.

There's some good guys who are in there for the right reasons, and there are some sick fucks, too. I judge them as I meet them.

[The Stranger]

65. I can't support a war crime. Neither should you.

[Sebastian Doyle]

66. I support the US military being used ONLY to defend the United States of America.

And while I respect any man or woman with the honorable intention of serving their country, the simple fact is that since the end of WWII, there has been NO war in which US troops have been deployed that has ONE GODDAMN THING TO DO WITH DEFENDING THIS COUNTRY.

And yes, that fucking includes Afghanistan. It's time to stop this shit. Bring the troops home. ALL of them. Now.

[Bonobo]

67. I don't. The govt. takes my money to support them no matter what I think of it.

I do NOT support them. I do not approve of any overseas conflict. I wish the military budget would be cut to a tiny fraction of what it is and I wish that we got out of the weapon making business.

Fuck the military. They take advantage of the poor and weak-minded to swell their ranks. Fuck them.

Oh, did I mention that we WEAKEN national security with our overseas entanglements, not strengthen it.

[proteus_lives]

71. Wow, that's insulting.

"They take advantage of the poor and weak-minded to swell their ranks. Fuck them."

You're taking a piss on a lot of DU vets when you say that.

[Bonobo]

72. Oh well. It's how I feel and this is a message board. That's the message I meant to deliver. nt

[proteus_lives]

73. Ok.

Unfeeling and unthinking prick. Good luck with that.

[Bonobo]

75. Thanks, let's have lunch sometime

You war-worshipping limp-dick assole.

[armyowalgreens]

76. Holy jeebus!

Jesus fucking christ that was over the top...

[Bonobo]

78. I am feeling pissy today. Sue me.

[armyowalgreens]

81. You'll be hearing from my lawyer.

[proteus_lives]

84. Lunch, you got it,

Will you be able to get your head out of your ass in time for our meeting?

[armyowalgreens]

74. In this case, I think that person is confusing the big wigs with the soldiers...

They contradict themselves. How on earth can you say that you support the poor and weak-minded and then say fuck the entire military?

WTF? That doesn't make a bit of sense.

[Bonobo]

77. I don't wish ill on individual soldiers. I think they are victims.

Or just plain deluded. It's called brainwashing, lack of economic opportunity and poorly informed ideas of how to "protect America".

[armyowalgreens]

80. I'm just saying that your original post is kind of confusing and contradicting.

My hands are not in my pockets. Please do not shoot.

:yoiks:

[Bonobo]

87. Agreed.

[Forkboy]

68. By wanting them to come home.

[Iggo]

69. "In what way, if any, do you support the troops?"

I pay my taxes.

[Bjorn Against]

70. I support the troops, that is why I am involved in two weekly peace vigils

I support the troops by calling for them to be brought home.

[Cid_B]

82. I am "the troops"... Please send support C/O...

Nah seriously, support the USO, AER and send decent cigarettes and dip.

[Selatius]

83. Coming from a family that lived and survived in Viet Nam during the war, I won't support any army...

that intentionally targets civilians and civilian infrastructure. I'm all for people enlisting to protect the country, but being deployed overseas to maintain a garrison in a country that did not attack us is something I can't support. That's not defense. That's aggression.

[cliffordu]

88. I used to help count the homeless vets.

but I got disgusted with the yearly body count.

[burning rain]

89. I support the troops to the extent I want to bring them home alive & unhurt.

While they're deployed in a war zone, I want them to be provided with the equipment necessary to keep them as safe as possible. I want to make sure they're not put in situations or given instructions that lead them to commit torture or other wanton acts of violence, in part because I know they'll return home one day, and if they are brutalized by having committed brutal acts, they will be a dire threat to the safety of other Americans--their wives and girlfriends especially, in the scheme of things. I am wary of conservatives trying to use "support the troops" as a tactic to try and bully folks into blindly supporting warmongering. No dice there. The Iraq War is particularly bad news from an ethical viewpoint, since it's an illegal war.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

90. I support the troops by not wanting them sent out on stupid interventions

I want them used strictly for defensive purposes, not for regime change, not for defending corporate interests, not for running to the aid of every tinhorn dictator who proclaims himself to be "against terrorism."

[tekisui]

94. I support the troops by not supporting wars that kill them

and force them to kill and witness companions be killed. I support them by supporting(through my reps) efforts to get them adequate equipment to protect themselves when in combat.

But, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I support taking care of our Veterans. I make no judgment on why they enlisted or how they felt about their time served. That we request of them to risk it ALL, we should take care of them until their final day. That includes adequate healthcare, mental healthcare, job support, re-integration programs, counseling, etc. Whatever they need.

[TexasObserver]

95. IMO, "the troops" means the military personnel, not the administration or the brass.

Supporting the troops means supporting things the troops need to do their jobs. It means getting them adequate health care, training, housing, and equipment. It means providing veterans programs for them. It means providing for their families. It means being mindful of the toll service takes on them and their families.

It does not mean supporting policies of an administration, the DOD, or the military brass. It does not mean agreeing with any particular policy espoused by military. It does not mean supporting some individual in the military who loudly pronounces his or her political position on some topic. It does not mean supporting abuses by military, such as torture or murder.

[MadBadger]

101. +1

[Romulox]

96. I "support the troops" by demanding they be brought home immediately.

Anything less is supporting the war, not supporting the troops.

[Mystayya]

97. I had to vote other, because "support" is defined differently by people

[Downtown Hound]

98. My answer is quite simple

I support the troops as human beings, not as soldiers. I am under no obligation to get behind them and cheer them on for participating in a war that I find morally reprehensible. Any soldier that tells me I have to get behind them for that, that I should shut up and not protest, or that if I don't support the war then I don't support them, can pretty much kiss my ass.

Now, that being said, I believe that our troops, ALL of our troops, deserve nothing but the best treatment when they return home. None of them should ever be homeless or hungry again, even if it means building public housing for all of them and the money to support them has to come out of my taxpayer's wallet for the rest of my life, I'm okay with that. Ironically, how many of these SUV driving, yellow ribbon waving, American flag worshiping dipshits that prance around all the time saying, "Support Our Troops!" really give a flying fuck about the homeless ones they pass on the street everyday? They don't really care about the troops. All they care about is what the troops do for them and how they make them feel. The minute that Faux News is turned off they forget about the troops.

[jimcarlton32]

100. I'm in the military, and the "troops" get all my support.

Further more, I'll be going to the local VA hospital next month to spend the day volunteering there.