Supporting Our Troops

Can people who disprove of the war in Iraq simultaneously support our troops? Of course. There is a difference between supporting a war and supporting the troops who fight in it. The war was based on false pretenses. Our troops should not be in Iraq. This is an example of not supporting a war. Not supporting the troops would be calling for an immediate end to all funds for our troops' supplies and equipment, spitting on our returning soldiers, and calling our troops evil butchers.

In Dennis Prager's recent article at RealClearPolitics he argues that support for the troops is linked to one's support for the war. This argument is preposterous. If I disagree with the decision to send our troops to battle in Iraq (and hence disagree with the war) why does this mean that I do "not want the troops to win in Iraq"? Then to compare my response to the Iraqi war to a German who believed that "the Nazi regime's army is engaged in an evil war of aggression and is slaughtering millions of innocent people, and I therefore completely oppose this war, but I sure do support the Nazi troops." is an utterly facetious and reprehensible analogy. Our troops have not committed mass genocide. Our troops with few exceptions have behaved commendably in the face of hostility. Our troops are striving for a free and stable Iraq. The Nazi soldiers were fighting for the right to enslave Europe and eliminate non-Aryans. I disagree with the pretenses of the war on Iraq. I believed the costs outweigh the benefits. Does this make me the equivalent of a Nazi sympathizer? No.

Our troops need to succeed. A free and stable Iraq needs to be the result of this war. Withdrawing our troops is not an option.