Supporting the troops = glorifying war?

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People say that supporting the troops and supporting war are two different things, but I strongly disagree. I mean, the troops might not be the ones who sign the papers for war, but without troops, there wouldn't be war.

I don't think we can totally absolve our troops of responsibility for war, especially when it's obvious the wars we are in (or in the case of Iraq, just ended) are clearly unjust. I feel like Vet's and Memorial Day are just as much about glorifying war as they are about remembering people's (in the past often forced) sacrifice.

I honestly DON'T support the troops. I have never been fond of the military community. They're just not the kind of people I'd want to hang out with for the most part. I don't hate troops, I don't dislike someone just because they served, I just don't feel indebted or in awe of them. I see most of them as well-intentioned dupes, or people who just are doing a job.

I know it's a horrible, politically incorrect thing to say, but when even self-proclaimed pacifists claim to respect the army (yes, I have heard pacifists say they do), it really seems like the peace movement is dead and someone has to defend it.

I don't support the troops. But I can see how some may have felt tricked into joining. I'm not saying it's not entirely their fault, being naive doesn't excuse them. The issues are kind of muddy, and especially so just after 9/11, so I can understand why a lot of people thought they were doing the virtuous thing by signing up. I don't understand how you can sign up, and not expect to go to war.

I think a lot of these guys that signed up didn't look too closely at their decision, and let their recruiters cast away their doubts with promises of money, adventure, training, and job prospects after they got out.

But I think a lot have come to the realization that the wars were wrong. I mean, just look at military donations to Ron Paul.

supporting "the troops" en masse and the ideological notion of armed forces is somewhat different from empathising with a member or former member of "the troops", though. i think some people may miss this distinction.

I am thinking of all those men who fought a died on the beaches of Normandy. Without their efforts I would have ended up as a cake of soap on some Nazi's bathroom sink. Those brave men did more for me than I ever did for them.

ruveyn

I see "support the troops" as a form of intimidation. How is it "supporting the troops" to say, "Hey, GI dude! How about you go off and murder a few sand-niggers to appease my racist, islamo-phobic prejudices? Sure, you may get shot at and possibly killed, but that's a small price to pay for making a few dead sand-niggers to make my dick feel big!" That's not "patriotic." It's ret*d and evil.

Furthermore, I don't see how it's undermining our military to point out how the civilian government is making pathetically poor use of them. If our civilian government is sending our boys off to die in a stupid quagmire and selling them out in no-bid contracts in an orgy of political corruption the like of which the world has never seen, how is it helping the troops to act like this is somehow a grand idea?

"All my soldiers in the field, I will wish you safe return / But only love kills war, when will they learn?" -Jay-Z

Gentle people sleep soundly at night, knowing that rough people stand ready to commit violence on their behalf.

False equivalency. Supporting the troops, which are human (for the moment) and need our compassion and sympathy does not mean we need to agree with the reason that supports the conflict which has put them into a situation of war. Usually people "support" the troops, with financial or at the very least, moral support, but it can't be certain that most of the soldiers really want to wage war (some do, obviously), which is often declared for political reasons, and by an executive branch of government which cares more or less for their safety, and onto whom they have very little mean of intervention.

If there were no troops they'd just use more drones. Wars are started by politicians, not soldiers.