Support

Congress is debating non-binding resolutions claiming to "support the troops," but not an increase in troop strength in Iraq. The reason behind not sending more troops is that the war is already lost and cannot be won, no matter how many troops we send in.

Most Soldiers (including me) are saying that you can't have it both ways. You can't say the war is lost and that you support the troops, but you are not willing to end the war. That's as hypocritical as saying you don't support "tax cuts for the rich" and then turn around at tax time and claim those cuts for yourself... I'm sure no rich liberal has done that...

Let's discuss support. Say you have a brother. He asks you to help him pay for his wedding, he wants $5000. Then he says he's going to marry a stripper from a local club.

What do you do? One option is you say "I trust my brother's judgement, and she seems like a nice girl." You give him the money. That's supporting your brother.
Or you say, "My brother is making a mistake, this girl is going to ruin him." So you don't give him the money. That is also support, although he may not appreciate it at the time. Hopefully one day he will understand, but you have to take a stand that is unpopular sometimes.

What you don't do is say, "My brother is making a mistake, this girl will ruin him," and give him the money anyway. If you care about your brother you tell him how you feel and you stand behind your words even if it hurts him in the short term.

The congressmen and women who vote against the "surge," but refuse to end the war are not supporting the troops. I wrote about this in a previous post: "Lead, follow or get the f*** out of the way."

I'm writing about it again because people don't seem to understand the damage that this resolution is doing to troop morale. How can you allow a war to continue that you believe to be lost? You are supposed to be the leaders, you are in charge. To continue to fund the war, while standing in opposition to it, is cowardice.

I'm glad that the Democrats won the majority in the House and Senate. We've already seen the warrantless wiretapping deal get fixed. The administration changed their position on that quickly, to allow judicial oversight. That's a good thing. But now the Democrats have the power to end the war, by cutting funding. The choice if you are against the war is very clear: you end it. You end it or you shut up. Because your words are hurting the Soldiers that you are continuing to send to Iraq.

I don't agree with the contention that the war is lost. I believe that we can still create conditions in Iraq for a stable democracy, and I believe that in the long run a free, stable Iraq will benefit the west. But I'm not in charge. I wasn't elected to make the decisions. I'm going to follow the orders of our elected leaders.

The American people sent a Democrat majority to congress. Let's see some leadership.