Support Our Objectors
Everyday when I'm out driving I am assaulted by bumper stickers reading "Support Our Troops." This was the brainshild of the first Bush administration for getting the US population behind the first Persian Gulf War. Fearing the "ghost of Vietnam" they concocted this idea that you don't have to support or like the war but a patriot supports the troops.
Nonsense.
Let's be clear here,"Support our Troops" is used to show support for the war and diverts attention from the war at hand. I say we should not support our troops. Why? This is a volunteer army. There was no draft. Any person in the military now is there because they chose to. They knew the risks. Why should I be any more supportive of a soldier than a firefighter? At least a firefighter is actually doing a public good. And before someone blows a gasket, I have family and friends in the Military and they know my position. being a volunteer military also means that like Muhammed Ali the soldier could object to being deployed to a situation they morally object to. This is the highest level of military service: To object to something that ones conscious tells you is wrong and standing by it. But where are the "Support the Objectors" bumper stickers?
Nowhere to be seen.
GG
(17 years of informed commentary)
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