War opponent is AGAINST Troops

After months of blogging on how the anti-war left is against the troops, the truth has come out.

Joel Stein, of the LA Times, wrote as much in his piece "Warriors and wusses" in which he says that soldiers don't deserve to be supported because they knew what was coming when they signed the dotted line.

When you volunteer for the U.S. military, you pretty much know you're not going to be fending off invasions from Mexico and Canada. So you're willingly signing up to be a fighting tool of American imperialism, for better or worse. Sometimes you get lucky and get to fight ethnic genocide in Kosovo, but other times it's Vietnam.

So, our brave fighting men and women oversees are signing up as tools. Interesting.

I'm sure I'd like the troops. They seem gutsy, young and up for anything. If you're wandering into a recruiter's office and signing up for eight years of unknown danger, I want to hang with you in Vegas.
(snip)
Blindly lending support to our soldiers, I fear, will keep them overseas longer by giving soft acquiescence to the hawks who sent them there and who might one day want to send them somewhere else. Trust me, a guy who thought 50.7% was a mandate isn't going to pick up on the subtleties of a parade for just service in an unjust war. He's going to be looking for funnel cake.

This kind ofmentalityy is apparent in the anti-war movement. Instead of being against the war and respecting the troops (ie not protesting ROTC on campus, Recruiting stations off of campus, etc), the anti-war left is now attacking soldiers to make political gain. Notice that Mr. Stein is against a "parade" because it will send the wrong message to politicians. Well, how about the soldiers? They are fighting, they are bleeding, for the American people.

But blaming the president is a little too easy. The truth is that people who pull triggers are ultimately responsible, whether they're following orders or not. An army of people making individual moral choices may be inefficient, but an army of people ignoring their morality is horrifying. An army of people ignoring their morality, by the way, is also Jack Abramoff's pet name for the House of Representatives.

This nation must begratefull for the soldiers who are protecting our boarders and are willing to fight for it. I am sickened by Mr. Stein's comments and hope he understands what he is saying. He has called the armed forces an immoral entity. Then, almost as if this is all a big joke, he throws in a punch line about Abramoff.

I'm not advocating that we spit on returning veterans like they did after the Vietnam War, but we shouldn't be celebrating people for doing something we don't think was a good idea. All I'm asking is that we give our returning soldiers what they need: hospitals, pensions, mental health and a safe, immediate return. But, please, no parades.

First, you are advocating that the collective US turn its back on our soldiers. It is our duty as a grateful nation, whether you believe in the war effort or not, to respect and thank our fighting men and women. Mr. Stein, I have friends in Iraq, I have a neighbor in Iraq, and as long as they fight for the USA, I, for one, am going to support them. And to the people who agree with Mr. Stein. I pray that you know that your freedom is protected by those people "who pull the trigger".

What the anti-war left doesn't get and Mr. Stein hates is that overall moral for the US Military in Iraq is high. The soldiers, riflemen, airmen, and seamen in Iraq understand their mission and can see the progress being achieved in that country. If you have not PERSONALLY talked to soldiers coming back from Iraq, if you have not personally talked to soldiers injured in Iraq (many of whom wants to return), then you truly don't understand the war that is being fought. Oh, there will be parades when this war is over, and hopefully Mr. Stein is stuck in traffic as one goes by, so he can see who he didn't support when they needed it the most.

Update: Uncle Jimbo must have been reading my mind. He wrote about this earlier today.
Favorite line: "I wonder if the possibility that he is not omniscient ever crossed the fevered mind of this delusionally self-important weasel. "