Do you support your troops?

[thethingthatlurks]

I'm not a US citizen, although I do reside in the country.
In short, no. But please allow me to qualify that: the US has a volunteer army, and the enlisted are (usually) aware of the risks the job brings with it. Their salary is paid by taxpayers, and their orders come from elected officials. So what difference does it make if I hang one of those yellow bands on my balcony/door/window/whatever? What difference does it make if I loudly proclaim my support but fail to do anything substantial? I don't support the Iraq war, so why should I pretend to be proud of the men and women who are over there? I certainly do not wish for any of them to be wounded or die, but I also do not regard them as heroes. To me they are just people doing a job for which they signed up, nothing that warrants condemnation or praise. As for the keeping freedom free malarkey, kindly grow up. The word doesn't work that way...

 

[Veritas0323]

First off I'd like to point out that we aren't at war (technically).

Nitpicking aside, yes I support the troops although I don't support the "war"

 

[BonsaiK]

I don't support "the troops" as a collective, of any nation, for any reason.

This is not because I approve/disapprove of any war, or approve/disapprove of what soldiers do generally, or what they are ordered to do, but because I dislike the mob mentality that this type of support seems to generate.

I don't hate soldiers, however I am very antipathetic toward military culture (of any nation). Soldiers can do their thing and I'll do mine.

 

[ClunkiestTurtle]

I support them in that i don't really wish death on anyone and wives losing husbands, children losing fathers is something i'd rather not happen.

Other then that i think their cause is foolish and despite any noble intentions they may have the justification and reasons why the government sent them there is anything but. So while i wouldn't throw a parade in their honor i certainly don't agree with the people who protest them.

 

[Horton986]

I guessing I'm one of the few Canadians here who actually supports our mission to Afghanistan and our troops over there.

 

[Cheesus333]

I'm really surprised - not to mention concerned - by the amount of people who really don't give a damn that these people die. Especially this:

Because they are fellow human beings! who are just trying to get by in these harsh times maybe?

I'm not altruistic. As far as I'm concerned, their deaths mean nothing to me. You're expecting me to care about someone I'll never meet? Who are performing actions I'll never agree with?

Not going to happen.

Altruism is nothing to do with it, but a little human decency is to be expected. I don't actually know how someone can be so callous and just be perfectly fine with that. These aren't just names or numbers shipped overseas that you can dismiss. They're real people. Men and women with husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They're living, breathing people exactly like you, and yet you can say that their deaths mean nothing?

I respect them. I pity you.

 

[buckythefly]

The average grunt on the ground, who deals with what he has to yes. I support them, and I wish them well. I don't support the war (either of them).
I don't support soldiers who think of themselves as deserving special treatment just because they chose that job over something else. Because at that point, their not doing it because they want to help, their doing it for personal glory.

 

[Kathinka]

i myself of course find it sad that people have to die, but no, i do not support them. unfortunately the world is better of with them getting their asses kicked. every american, brittish, czech and whatever soldier killed in iraq or afghanistan is a tiny step away from the u.s. playing world police and spitting on the international community. so on the one hand i do not wish harm to the people, on the other hand the situation improves with their deads..the lesser of two evils unfortunately.

 

[McNinja]

I absolutely do. One of my friends is in Afghanistan now, and another just left today to continue training before heading out to Afghanistan. Another guy I know has been in Iraq for two years now, and his squad has been attacked multiple times, and has lost squadmates. I support the troops 100%, because even though some troops might be arrogant or pretentious, they are still fighting a war, and war ain't fun, no matter if it's your job or not.

I Support the troops, but I hate it when a soldier dies and people have an absaloute uproar about it. I can understand being upset, or even blaming the politicians/country for getting their relative/friend into the war in the first place, but I hate the ones where the people seem genuinely shocked to discover that people occasionally die in wars, and they think it's the government's fault for not telling them and bringing their boy back to life

I agree totally, the casualties our armies have taken are ridiculously low considering the type of deployment but people seem to feel that the enemy is somehow not allowed to shoot at 'our brave boys'.

The example that hits me is that there was a report in the papers the other day about a "Devious Taliban sniper" who's been shooting soldiers. Well as far as I'm concerned he's not evil, if he were one of our snipers he'd be 'plucky'.

The other thing I hate is referring to every dead soldier as a hero, heroes are rare and do amazing things, calling every dead soldier a hero devalues actual heroism. Soldiers are doing a job, I no more 'support' them than I support a plumber. I would treat them with the same respect as anyone else who does a dangerous job on the state's behalf but let's not pretend that they are all heroes, they're professionals.I have no views on the occupations besides that it'll probably benefit Iraq and Afghanistan in the long run.

I agree. I was astounded when the newspapers and stations would go on and on about how many soldiers had died in the war so far. Is a soldier dying a bad thing? Yes, for any side. But comparatively, this war has been the least bloody conflict ever.

 

[Andreas55k]

I guess im just against the fact that we are down there, but now that we are there lets finish the job. So i think i support the troops ^^

 

[Captain Pancake]

Not especially. We have no vested interest in the middle east, and so far it's done more harm than good. Post 9/11, we had very little trouble with terrorists, yet since we jumped in on the conflict, the gaze of terrorists has come to settle on us, and we're a much closer, smaller target than the US. Since we clearly lack the resources to smoke out these terrorists until after they've made their attacks and caused the damage, all we're succeeding in doing is aggravating them.

 

[Exterminas]

Actually Germany isn't in any wars right now.
They are called peace missions, by the politicians, so I think our troops don't really need support, cause peace isn't dangerous.

Believe it or not, but for the first time since 1945 it is WAR
Although they're called "peace missions", and we're in the middle east for development work and leave the fighting mainly to U.S. soldiers and such, it's war

Soldiers of the Bundeswehr are fighting and dying right now, they fight against terrorism to guarantee our freedom and they need every kind of support they can get

Or why do you think German soldiers return back home in body bags and we send Leopard II tanks to aid them? Just because hostile bombers aren't flying over Germany to bomb our cities to rubble doesn't mean we are not fighting in a war.

Actually I was trying to be sarcastic about the fact that people act suprised when soldiers die on a peace mission and the politicians still refuse to call it a war.

 

[TheEvilJester]

Support and respect are two totally different things. I respect Hitler because he did what he believed was right and went for it, I wouldn't support him though.

Why do I care about people who believe its ok to go stomp on another countries face, and then the moment they so much as cough in our direction, they're terrorists? I support the UN peacekeepers but not American soldiers.

 

[Arctic Fox]

I support our troops, especially because one of my best friends is in the army. (U.S.) I hope they come back soon. Best wishes to everyone over there.

 

[Baldry]

Ofcourse I do, I mean I don't support the war but I don't want people to die, friend or foe.

well aslong as they die by my hand I'm ok with it

 

[Chrono180]

As someone who has relatives in Afghanistan (my uncle is an army engineer, and I have a cousin that is a captain), I find your comment quite offensive. I agree that the wars haven't been handled very well, and that the terms on which we invaded were questionable, but to hate the man with a gun doing what he is told, maybe even fighting, because (rightly or wrongly) he is trying to make the world a better place, seems unreasonable. There are soldiers out there who are opening schools, letting children have an education and be free from the oppressive Taliban regime.

I could argue that the Middle East was worse off before the invasion. When they invaded Iraq, they found mass graves containing some of Saddam's 300,000 victims. I could argue that if that little girl gets to walk the streets feeling the wind on her face, without the risk of being executed in a football stadium for showing bare skin and even has the possibility of having a worthwhile future, then the old fashioned imperialistic bastards have done a good job.

But that is not my problem, my problem is that you have insulted men who are risking their lives doing their lives.

I wouldn't have gotten so worked up were not such an authoritative figure on this site, but even if the war is wrong, show some respect to the guys getting shot.

Worse by whose standards? While they were certainly worse off by our standards, by their standards we essentially shattered any form of order in their country for no good reason. You could argue that a unstable democracy is better than a stable dictatorship, but many people would disagree with you. And what right did we have to make that decision for every person in that country? We took away their way of life and are now trying to force them to accept ours! This is no different than, say, the time we annexed Hawaii, or the time we committed genocide on the Native Americans.
To the point, the way international politics work is that unless there is a clear and present danger to us or our allies(such as with the second world war), we should not go to war. Other countries should be allowed to live without having to worry about us invading them for no good reason like we did in Vietnam, Grenada, Somalia, Iraq , etc etc.
As far as the soldiers, I don't believe that any person who uses "orders" as an excuse to torture and abuse civilians is deserving of respect, even if they only condone the behavior and don't actively participate in it. So I don't support the troops in that area. However, I do not want them dead, I just want them taken back home and preferably tried for war crimes.

 

[FolkLikePanda]

Yes, they're a sign of strength of the country and is their job to follow orders not to decide them, so when people blame troops for their actions then they should be hung drawn and quartered for treason. I mean I don;t beleive they should be in Afgahnistan fighting Taliban when we should be attacking Al Qaeda for their attack on London, then again if their allies then why not? Also, I respect them because they are doing something I wouldn't dare doing which is signing up for a job where other people could kill me, mainly because I'm a coward. And this is a little off topic but the Gurkhas deserve to live in this country because they have paid they're services.

 

[SimuLord]

The troops are heroes and patriots...and that's why I tirelessly campaign and agitate to get our government to stop these stupid wars. Our boys' lives are being wasted and all because they love their country a little too much.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

I don't get why everyone is against Afghanistan... Osama is in Afghanistan (Or was, he might be in Pakistan by now), and there was a real reason for Afghan: Get Osama, head of the Terrorist Orginization that has not only Bombed America, but Pakistan, Spain, Britain, Iraq and other nations, and free a country from an oppressive theocracy. Sure, Iraq was a huge screw up that went from finding things that didn't exist in that country to killing Saddam, but what's done is done, we're leaving there. I support the Troops and I support the Afghan war, I used to support the Iraqi War, but now I am sort of neutral about that.