Common wisdom in some circles has is that if someone does not approve of the war in Iraq, then one does not support the men and women fighting there.  Following that logic, then I do not support our troops. 

But what does that mean when someone says I don’t support them?  My brother is over there.  Does this mean that I do not worry about him being stationed just outside Baghdad?  Does it mean that I hope that he and his comrades come to harm? 

From looking around here in balmy Dallas, Texas, it appears that supporting the troops means that I have a yellow metallic sticker on my vehicle.  It appears to me to be a catch phrase to mean that I support the President’s policies in his struggle with violent extremism.  If that is the case, then I do not support our troops.  I didn’t support the troops before the war started and they said that they had proof of these weapons of mass destruction aimed at US cities.  I did not support the troops when they tried to link Saddam Hussein to 911.  I didn’t support the troops when they glibly said that freedom was messy.  I didn’t support the troops when their response to the escalating violence was, “Bring ‘em on!”

I show my lack of support by advocating their swift return from Iraq.  I show my lack of support by wanting them to have the armor they need for protection.  I show my lack of support by opposing the cover-ups surrounding prisoner abuses and ‘special renditions’ that are doing so much to worsen our already horrible image overseas.  I show my lack of support by insisting that the freedoms they are supposedly protecting don’t erode any further.

I must be a terrible person.  I obviously hate this country and should probably leave – who else but an unpatriotic hater would want this country to live up to it’s noble ideas?