Thank you for your thoughtful words on this subject. It’s a difficult day for me, when so often there is such a glorification of the military.

I miss the crazy Connor pics on your blog!

Hippie.

Just kidding.

There are a lot of Americans who are now having second thoughts about Iraq. Maybe this will translate into becoming a less warlike people. Perhaps it will counteract the Sparta fetish that I’ve been seeing in the USA for the last 30 years. I certainly hope so.

Connor,

Thank you for your comments and understanding on this issue. My former husband served three tours in Vietnam. He lived through ambushes when there were only three survivors. He saw terrible things and his spirit died on the field of battle, now only his body remains. When I see so many homeless men that are my age (60) I realize that many of them are the victims of a mindless war, a war that killed their spirits decades ago.

My brother-in-law is a mentally disabled Gulf War vet and I have nephew in Iraq. My daughter might be next to go and I am afraid for them. Keep spreading the word that you can be a patriot and pro-troops and still be against the war.

Thanks!

I don’t understand this idiom that we can be “for the troops, but against the war.” I don’t understand the complexities of the gulf coast countries in the Middle-East and I don’t begin to understand the men and women practicing Wahabi Islam who are willing to sacrafice their own lives to kill the “occupiers”. But I do know that supporting the war is not ignoble, and people that support more than the troops shouldn’t be mocked.

Who knows about whats in store for the future when certain holy centers prostylitize pernicious and fanatical teachings. I don’t; but I also know that the monthly death rates are way down compared to a year ago; life in Iraq is stabilizing; businesses are growing.

Our troops are fighting a war not only for our national security, but also for stability in Iraq, so that Iraqi children can walk safer streets, attend school, and have oppurtunities. We deposed a ruthless, tryrannical leader. Yes, I’m aware that there are many more to depose in this world, but Sadam was sitting on one of the worlds largest oil reservers, and there’s a strong possibility he could have created WMD’s later. Who knows? The man invaded Kuwait (and Iran before that after the Islamic Revolution in 79′) had a chip on his shoulder after we bitch smacked him out of Kuwait, hates America, tried to kill Bush senior, violated UN resolutions after 91′ by shooting at US fighter planes in Northern Iraq, used chemical weapons on Kurds killing thousands. I support the war.

I also just finished college and am applying for Officer Candidate School. This war is far from over and there are American’s dying every month, benevolently protecting us, for a war everybody claims to not support. Wake up; if you support the troops, you invariably support the war. This conflict will continue and it will persist until we sever the last head from this transnational hydra. This takes time, troops, intelligence, and more troops. I support this war, and I support our troops.

This response wasn’t meant to sound like a diatribe, it was meant to serve as a differing opinion, one that is dwarfed more and more each day, and yet each day is another day after September 11 without blood spilt on US soil.