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It’s long overdue. It’s time to start calling a spade a spade. If you are demonstrating in support of the war without speaking out against the current treatment of soldiers in Iraq, you are anti-troops.
In CNN’s coverage of the recent demonstrations in D.C., talking-head Kathleen Koch referred to “anti-war protesters” as compared to “pro-troop demonstrators”, the latter being those who were demonstrating on behalf of the War in Iraq.
While CNN doesn’t represent valid news coverage any more than any other MSM news outlet, such comments not only fail to see the point, they are deliberately blind to the point – behavior that, most unfortunately, has become the norm in obfuscating what’s going on in Iraq, and what’s going on in our own backyard.
I have been against the War in Iraq from day one, along with many of us. And as the debacle that BushCo has created falters with every passing day, more Americans have come around to feeling the same way.
There are still citizens, however, that believe in this as-yet-to-be-defined mission, and whether they have been misled by the lies of their government, encouraged by the deceit of their party, or misinformed by the bullshit that passes for news coverage these days is of no consequence.
The point is that they hold a certain opinion, and they have as much right to express it as we have a right to express ours.
The problem comes about when such people are described (as they invariably are) as pro-troop supporters – because if you’re in full agreement of this war being continued under the current system of mistreating our soldiers, you are not just pro-war, you are anti-troops.
This administration, along with its GOP flunkies, have blatantly disregarded the safety and well-being of our troops, and – as the C-in-C is so fond of saying, “You’re either with us, or your against us.” And their actions have left no doubt that they are against the troops.
Our fighting men and women have been sent into combat without body-armour, without reinforced vehicles, without life-saving helmet-inserts. In a war that is costing the American taxpayers billions of dollars per month, soldiers’ family member are still purchasing basic equipment to keep their loved ones safe.
Soldiers are still being charged for equipment that has gone missing or has been destroyed in combat. Returning troops are still facing a bureaucratic nightmare that keeps them from getting the medical and/or psychological treatment they need to get on with their lives. While war-profiteers like Halliburton reap obscene profits, GI Joe is left to rot in a Walter Reed-type facility (privatized for BushCo’s friends’ convenience AND profit), where ignoring the needs of a wounded vet is just another way to make a buck.
When you have people like Gates declaring that necessary rest periods for combat-fatigued soldiers is an idea that should be dismissed out-of-hand, it should be – should be – obvious who’s on the side of the troops, and who’s on the side of those who think “Supporting the Troops” should be a bumpersticker rather than a reality.
As I’ve said, those who support this war have every right to make their voices heard – but until I see them marching in the streets with placards that say ”Less $$$ for Halliburton, More $$$ for Soldiers!”, “US Troops/Blackwater Mercenaries – Equal Pay NOW”, “$99 per bag of laundry, $87.50 per helmet-insert – Spend the $$$ Where it COUNTS” – these people are not “pro-troops”, any more than people who oppose abortion but support war or the death penalty are ”pro-life”.
The great irony in all of this is the fact that the pro-war crowd, despite their numbers growing smaller with every passing day, actually hold the power in their hands to change the dismal way in which our troops are being treated.
Imagine the pro-war supporters demanding better pay, better pensions, more equipment, more time off from combat, more expedient medical care, better quality of post-injury hospitalization, and less red-tape entanglement for our troops, and voicing their demands that unless they see overwhelming improvement in all of these areas, they will withdraw their support? It is these people, despite their ever-shrinking numbers, that could actually effect the changes necessary to ensure that our military gets their due, instead of getting the shaft.
So unless you pro-war types are willing to step up to the plate and demand that our fighting men and women get the necessary equipment, the financial compensation they have earned, the funds necessary to keep their families financially afloat, and easy access to the medical care they need, call yourselves what you are: anti-troops.
Without that kind of support, the pro-war faction’s claim to supporting the troops is as empty a phrase as the most trusted name in news.
And let’s face the facts; it doesn’t get any more empty than that.
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