I have seen posted and heard so much lip service about supporting our
troops. There are many who say they support or Troops but not the
reason they are fighting.

I say this. It is worthy gesture, to tell those facing deployment that
we stand behind them with pride and with love.

It is a much more worthy effort to support 'their' reasons for going,
'their' reasons for returning there again, and 'their' efforts, to make
a difference in any situation they encounter.

In the end what they, our troops, provide, will not be only what this
government sent them to do. In the end, it will be what each individual
conscience dictates, that will make a difference. They do not go
willingingly to fight a war, they go willingly to fight for peace. This
may not be in accordance to the wishes of our political leaders. It
is, however, what we, as American citizens, have ingrained in the very
nature of our values. THIS is what we support. This is what we have
taught the children who have become soldiers to believe.

When we support our troops, we need to let them know that their
concience is ours too. That what they do, they do because we, as a
nation, value what they have learned and how they will use it. Their
answer, then, to this support can and will be to uphold these values
wherever they are asked to go, whatever they are asked to do. It will be
those values that will make a soldier offer a hand to one who has
fallen, not our government, but them, only each one individually, taking
our collective values and putting them to work for good, carrying the
conscience of our nation, and not the works of our government.

I support each one, as I support any who would step into hell, to
assure that no voice is left crying in the silence of an uncaring world.

Lady, they are not fighting for peace!!

They are fighting for GREED..

I have coimpassion for all the troops, and, have lost a few relatives in
this fiasco..

Please, I implore you..(I have read most of your posts) do not change
directions in mid-stream..

Bring them home, and then repair them.

Dont ignore them.

They will be hurting and will be too proud to tell anyone.

I totally support the individual troops as they are only doing their
duty. I could have been one of them!

Troops do as they are told and that’s honorable.

However, their commander in chief is sick man.

Even Jimmy Carter (a former persistent of the USA) just recently
denounced this whole war as being totally unnecessary and uncalled for.
I totally agree.

Yes! THANK YOU TROOPS FOR DOING WHAT YOU ARE ASKED TO DO!

I appreciate it and back you 100% for doing what you are asked to do.

But your Commander in Chief is a sick man! He should be in an insane
asylum! Not running the most powerful country in the world!

This is totally disgusting!

And if a former President of the USA thinks so that’s pretty powerful
stuff. So if anyone wants to claim I’m not being patriotic they can
just shove it. Bush is America’s number one worse enemy!

do either of you.............. have a son/daughter in this war?

miltonroses wrote:
"do either of you.............. have a son/daughter in this war?"

What's the difference?

The war was wrong from day one no matter who's in it.

Who the soldiers are isn’t what determine the legitimacy of a war.

Like I said in my post, I could have been in it myself. I would still
be against it.

There are a lot of parents who have sons and daughter in this war and
they are protesting against it.

It shouldn’t matter who the soliders are. That’s totally irrelevant.

abracadabra you are so right that is the way most ppl feel

bibby, I am not changing in mid stream. I HATE BUSH, I WANT HIM OUT.
But we are were we are now, and over the last couple months I have
learned a great deal about what is, has been happening - not through the
government, but through those who have been there, or have family there.
Many have a discenting view and think we should not be there. It is the
ones that tell me of the horrors that exist, of the people who, without
our help would have no choice but to suffer and be killed.

If we entered this war to end or stop a potential holocaust, would any
question the effort? I believe those who, as Abra said, do their duty
and go, take with them our collective conscience, it is what we instill
in our children. We must support that for them to do it, not because it
is their duty but because they see wrong, where we can not go, because
they will try to right it, because we have raised our children to
believe in justice.

Could anyone forgive themselves if a sudden pullout, found us crying in
a year or two for millions of unheard death cries of a new holocaust?

hey ABRA......... how dare you tell me my son is irrelevant...
I am proud that you have the right to ;YOUR FREEDOM OF SPEACH

mtironroses
“hey ABRA......... how dare you tell me my son is irrelevant...
I am proud that you have the right to ;YOUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH”

There is NO WAY that I said or even implied any such thing!

I said that who the soldiers are is completely irrelevant to the
legitimacy of a war.

That does NOT in any way imply that you son is irrelevant.

You son is NOT responsible for the decision made by George W. Bush.

Like I said, there are many parents who have children in this war who
are totally against the war.

James...... forget it...it's hopeless


these people..... want an excuse to take anything against the war as a
personal attack..

RED....
"Could anyone forgive themselves if a sudden pullout, found us crying in
a year or two for millions of unheard death cries of a new holocaust?"


the Holocaust is already going on....and america is the perp


don't you think this is a holocaust for them???? Religious genocide

My son has been there twice he will be going back again.

When he returns for a while he is silent. I know the look in his eyes
for I have seen it before. War where the gunsmoke is is much different
than most of you know.

When he does begin to talk it is not tales of battles (though he has
been in a few) that he speaks of.

What he is proud of his the water lines he help build. The people he
extend his hand to and they extended theirs back.

I believe I have taught him well and I am proud of him. Not the soldier
but the part that believes his best contribution is in the rebuilding so
yes our soldiers over their can make a difference as Red has stated.

I pray peace descends before he steps back on that plane.

AB.. thanks for your wise words..........and to Abra, I am sorry, my
heart gets heavey and I do not mean to take it out on others... thanks
to you both.

i have to do the same thing...it is the only way we can justify our
existence!!

we have to balance thre attrocities of our fellow man with the
altruistic endeavours we participate in!! we have to find a way to make
some sense out of it!
we have to see that somewhere in the mess of it all we are ok as a
person and not part of the sickness , not part of the virus that has
infected so many...we willl never look the same way through our eyes...

and AB


kiss that boy for me and tell im i am sorry that life has such an ugly
side to it...but i feel it is so that those of us that see it that get
dirty in it, that KNOW IT...will actually forbid it from ever happening
again

and we will raise our children with a morality that has real integrity

i know i will not see the fruit of my labour in my lifetime...nor will
my children...but we are planting the seeds and tending the roots so
that they sink deep and grow strong into something healthy.

ok.......... I am sorry,, Abra... thanks for your wise words AB..
I am only a broken hearted mom of a very proud soldier..

sorry........... For something, neither him or I are responsible
for......
to you all

wow, fix them, we're broke? cool, thanks for the memo.

combat makes everything else just kind of move slowly, nothing else
seems to be too important, in the whole life and death realm of things.
words really dont mean too much anymore either, so....


thanks for the post red, very nice of you...

mtironroses- may the wait of the world be off your shoulders, the
hardest part of being a soldier is knowing that it is the people we
leave behind that hurt the most, and that hurts.

bl8ant - religious genocide? really- not buying that, but you know we
disagree with each other, is ok, dont take it personal.

well in the middle of all this is the fact that we are building 14 or
more permanent bases there..doesnt sound like our administration plans
on leaving any time soon right?...and as soon as we leave whether it is
6 month or 6 yrs from now they will have a full blown civil war &
genocide anyway...that is the nature of politics in that area...has been
for hundreds of years...the idea that our presence will change the
mindset of a whole culture is wishful thinking at best...
The soldiers are doing their jobs valiantly...it is the policy makers
that we need to focus on...
and make no mistake...a democratic administration will not be any
different...

we all support our troops . i,m dont like war i dont like being lied
to.i beleive they are doing what they are told.

Thanks cavinci, I don't know about the permanent bases but otherwise I
think you are dead on. As for the anarchist with the horns, how does it
feel to get up each morning with so much hatred?