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Originally posted by Gman.357
It's true. I have two friends who are vets. They have told me... when you are overseas, fighting a battle for WHATEVER reason, because your country sent you there, and you are a soldier who obeys orders, the main thing that keeps you going and helps you SURVIVE is the notion that your country is behind your efforts. That you're doing this and will be appreciated for risking your life (and possibly losing it) by your fellow countrymen.
If we go to war, this country needs to be unified! Maybe the rest of the world doesn't like what we're doing, but our soldiers shouldn't have to hear negativity from us when they're on the battlefield, and on the frontline.
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Here are just a couple of problems with using the logic "we must support the war no matter what as long as our troops are there":
1. That logic could be applied to us attacking Canada and murdering all the children there for no good reason. If we just accept that you must support any war where our troops are deployed, then you lose any objectivity toward why the troops are being used. The very fact that they are being used could justify any use of them. It makes no sense.
2. There are many vets and active duty military personnel who do not support the war themselves. Have you talked to any soldiers lately? Have you read Stars and Stripes newspaper? There are plenty of active duty soldiers who think that Bush is an idiot who is misusing the military for his own reasons that have nothing to do with the best interests of Americans. It would be a great disservice to those soldiers to blindly support any and all wars just because they have been ordered to serve in those wars. These soldiers are not stupid, they have their own questions about where they are being sent and why. Do you really think that most soldiers want people to blindly support the government while they are out fighting to defend the right of Americans to disagree with their government?
Those are just two quick flaws in that logic, there are many more which I don't have the patience to type out right now.
I want to make it clear that I do agree that U.S. service personnel should be treated with respect and individuals should be supported and recognized for what they are doing in service of their country. However, asking all citizens to support any and all wars just because there are troops from some country involved in the war is unreasonable, unfair to the troops themselves, and very dangerous.