There's the saying, "I support the troops, but I can't support the mission/war." I'm just one opinion. I have never served in the armed forces. I don't have family in the military. Its just my opinion very far from the frontline. Some who have served say you can do both, others say you can't. I respect both points of views. But I will say that I find it kind of disheartening when I hear one will support the troops but not the war. Its almost like telling me you support me and my children, but you don't like how I'm raising them. Thats a little offensive. I wonder if some of our soldiers may feel the same way.
Of course we all pray for our men and women to come home safely. And the dread of deployment, I just can't imagine.Soldiers live by the warrior ethos:
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade behind.
These are the values they live by. Time and time again, they throw themselves into the breach to accomplish what needs to be done. Soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors are enduring extreme hardship and danger to accomplish the mission they’ve been given in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pundits tell us that Americans are weary of the war. They are tired of it. They want it to go away. Many waiting friends and families endure the anxiety and heartache of deployments. Some receive terrible news of loved ones wounded or killed in action. For many Americans, however, the greatest hardship is seeing and reading bad news from Iraq in the media. I won’t downplay the significance of even this latter form of hardship. In today’s constantly connected world, news stories and images can and do create real traumatic stress.
Unfortunately, making decisions out of stress, discomfort or anxiety is a horrible idea. Soldiers and Marines quickly learn that paralysis and fear never get you out of a jam or accomplish what needs to be done. Success requires keeping your head in the game and your eyes focused on the goal, even when everything is going to hell around you. Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it is the ability to think and act despite your fear.
UPDATE: I'm unable to get a video up on my blog. Something about cookies something or another. I'm hoping then that I can send the URL. It only confirms what I've been saying. Hope it works! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyqk1LsCDBQ
12 comments:
Nice post, punky.
I disagree with the premises (sorry), but nice post...
Thanks mmc. Hope ya don't mind, I took this subject up over here. :)
I agree, and thank you for posting. I must say that every thinking person must reconsider the question often, wonder if we should be doing something differently, change our focus, etc. Certainly those with a real stake in the conflict do. But there are two correlaries to that, the first being that a proper decision cannot be made without correct information. And that's very hard to come by in this world. The second springs from the first. If you don't know what it's all about, if you only get political commentary, no matter what nation you're from, there's no way to really know. And I believe that's the state of the world today, that 90% of people everywhere have NO CLUE of the truth, the reasons, and the reasoning behind all of this. Because every country's leaders (and opposition) are posturing and displaying what THEY want, what their own opinion is--there's no fact, no truth anywhere.
I have another point, but I think I'll make it in another post.
thanks!
d
And my second point, and the most telling of all:
When my husband was deployed to Iraq, there came a day, after he'd been there a little while (he was gone a L-O-N-G while) that he asked me a question during a call home. Now, you have to understand that he's not the kind of man to ever talk about his feelings, to show any emotion; and, he's a soldier through and through--which doesn't mean blind obedience to whatever politics his leaders have, but certainly, committment to his men and his mission, and a better understanding than most, of what was at stake, at least, in his own corner of the war.
He asked me, somewhat hesitantly, if anyone at home really believed in what "we" (he and his men, and the larger force of military in country in Iraq) are doing, in and for Iraq. Now, this was a couple years ago, when things were worse, and it was a rude awakening for a lot of our boys. They'd never seen a place where people lived so very differently than we do, in such poverty and such a less technical world; also, they'd never seen the reality of war, of bombed ruins and never before come face to face with someone who wanted you dead just because you are American (or whichever allied country.)
A man who never worried about whether his commanding officers were wrong in a huge way, or that they were driven by questionable motives...a man who trusted those above him--and those around him, especially his beloved country and fellow Americans--well, this man was asking, does anyone believe in us anymore? Are all Americans against us? Is this like it was for VietNam (which he remembers well, but wasn't able to serve)?
I was astounded, myself, I couldn't believe I was hearing THIS MAN say (ask) these things. If HE was worried about what people thought back home--then, it was REALLY AFFECTING OUR TROOPS.
Our boys suffering over there, have to believe in what they are doing, to avoid coming home with real problems. Some of "my boys" have suffered through the worst that can happen there, and although there's some cynicism when they meet and talk, they still believe. But they're terribly lonely out there, thinking that no one believes in the reason they're suffering.
We will pay dearly for this attitude, for undercutting the souls of the men whose lives are on the line every day.
It's not possible to say, I support the troops, but what they're doing is wrong.
That's a lie. That is not support.
sincerely,
doorkeeper
The news reporting is overwhelmingly to the left. The newspapers, magazines, mainstream media (ABC,CBS,NBC,CNN, MSNBC), all have a far left slant.
It doesn't matter how successful the war in Iraq is going the media will find a way to give very little credit to that. God forbid they report on the 3.4 million Iraqi children being enrolled into school now. Or that almost every home in Iraq now has intalled a satellite dish. Or that Muslims now have that choice of religious freedom, attending a Christian church. No, our news reports that the violence may be down today BUT 2007 was the most deaths to date. The surge is working, BUT the politics are failing. Fact is....the media just refuses to see it for what it really is....and that is, we are winning in Iraq.
And why do you suppose the MSM is so against this war? I do believe its becuz they have such disdain for our current president. Oh well....
Thank you for your response dk.
Thank you dk. You and your family, your town is right in the middle of it all. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your service to our country. Your husband is indeed a true warrior.
I have this really cool you tube video of soldiers in Iraq who are voicing their opinion on the media and how they feel about people who don't support the war. I'm unable to send it through my blog, but I'll get it on there somehow!
I do believe that more soldier than not, do want us to support not only them, but what they are doing too.
Thank you dk for your service to our country. For families of our soldiers, you too sacrifice so much.
I think the video just shows something I have said before, supporting the troops without supporting the mission might not be supporting the troops the way they want to be supported ... but I don't think that necessarily makes it any less legitimate for the person who feels that way. One of the soldiers made a comment in the video "If they don't think we are doing a good job here..." I think a person could think the soldiers are doing a good job, as opposed to a good thing. And those can be two very different things. Politicians make decisions on our behalf all the time, many of which we don't agree, right?
BTW you do know there are others in the military who feel differently, that you can support the troops without supporting the mission, right?
punky, to embed the video in a post. Copy the embed code from the youtube page, which is the big long string of code in the little window on the right hand side of the video. Paste it into the HTML window, not the create post window. And voila, should work.
I suppose one can support the troops in the the way they consider it supporting them. That would be a legitimate feeling for the person who is against the war. But would it be supporting our soldiers in the way our soldiers wish to be supported?
Yes, the politicians make the decision and yes some of which we won't agree. But we're talking about the war in Iraq. Our mission, the mission of our soldiers is to win this god awful war. And its the politicians who make these decisions. The decision/strategy is to win.
The goal of our soldiers and the goal of our politician is to win.
Thats why I use the baseball analogy. A baseball team plays ball to win. And its the owner and manager who make decisions/strategize to win the game.
You support your baseball team/your soldiers.....in the game of baseball/in the hell of war......both goal is to win. In the game...in the fight....we support each.
I don't know, to me that baseball analogy just doesn't fly. To liken a sport (is anyone going to disagree with the decision to play another team?) to a decision to invade another counntry ... nope, not for me.
Anyway, for me, on my end, it all started because people were saying that you couldn't support the troops without supporting the war. That it was an impossibility and people who professed to feel that way weren't being legimitate. And I'm sure some (many) aren't but that doesn't mean that none of them are.
And consider this, if the two aren't separate things, then I guess those Boy Souts collecting money for care items for the troops at the election polls were making a political statement.
PS It just struck me.
Your post title, punky, should have read ... Talk is Cheap ;-)
Okie dokie....I see what you're saying. I know there are some that do support the troops, but not the war. Its the radicals who won't support our soldiers. That reminds me of the horrors of VietNam.
Re: the boy scouts. I didn't follow that one extensively. The little that I do know, I don't know that can be compared. They were collecting money (their goal) was to raise money for the boy scouts, (wasn't it?). To stand outside the election polls was a tactic to raise the money for their organization, nothing having to do with their political views.
They weren't raising money for the Boy Scouts. They were raising money to make care packages to send to the troops. Which was why some twit complained about it... Because of the politics behind it. Because you can't support the troops without supporting the war, you know..
Happy Thanksgiving, friend.
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