Bubbles, please tell your nephew "thank you" from Dawn.
Very Touching, Check it out.
by watson 14 Replies latest jw friends
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Adolfius
W.Once, I think I may have put my point across a bit confusing. You're absolutely right about this war, Saddam was no risk at any time and not just the US people were duped by the US government, but most of the NATO countries. I'm not defending the war or the motives behind it in any way, and yes it has done the world more harm than good.
I was just looking at the video as saying we should support the troops as individual people at all times. I wasn't looking at it as support them in Iraq specifically. I thought it was a moving reminder that the vast majority of the forces are good people who join up for noble reasons on a personal level, and the public at large should remember that. Forgetting the politics of the moment, the troops should always have the support of a nation who they defend. They may not be defending them in combat, but the very fact of having a standing army.......even in peace time, protects a nation from potential threat, it's a deterant.
I have a neighbour who despises the military, thinks they are the worst kind of human being imaginable. I try to remind her that without the military, she'd be speaking German and would certainly be in a concentration camp if she dared to speak her mind in such a way. The military provides her with the right to say and think what she likes.
So my point about the video is just show some support to the individuals, now, 10 years ago, or 10 years from now. The politics of the matter is a totally different subject.
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Wasanelder Once
Your point was understood. I just don't get this blanket "Support our troops" business. What does that mean? Give them more armor? Send them packages? Wouldn't proper support be to get them OUT of harms way in this instance? Applauding people for their individual part in a criminial act hardly seems like proper support. Up till Saddam was taken out, (evil dictator scenario) I would have supported individuals. Now they are merely throwing their lives away and the kind of support they need has changed. They need people to support their right to live past 19 years old.
Sure, send them a package. That's the family's responsibility and I wouldn't fault them.
My brother, by the way, is in Afghanistan. It's all about the money for him.
W.Once
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SixofNine
The very best way to support our troops is to hold their civilian leadership accountable (their military leadership too, though the military portion of the leadership is secondary in almost all practical ways; wars are started and ended by civilians).
The "catch 22" brought out by Adolfus and wasanelder's conversation (an army is necessary/most wars aren't) is why We The People must also hold ourselves accountable for allowing the military's civilian leadership to take us into such an illegitimate war, and do everything we can to pressure them to do what it takes to end this debacle.
You don't support the troops by putting yellow ribbons on your car, you support the troops by making sure that military force is only used as a last, last, last resort.
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Adolfius
I actually agree with wasanelder. I'm just obviously not very good at articulating or explaining what I'm thinking very well.
I too hate the blanket expression, "support our troops". I'm not trying to suggest that sending parcels or providing better equipment is the support (both things are the responsibilty of the government). I think my point is, a lot of the service personnel are poorly educated, and easily manipulated in much the same way as the witnesses. These people join up for good and honorable reasons, believing they are going to be doing right and just things. When something like Iraq, or Vietnam comes along, most are just in the mindset where they believe they are doing something good. Suddenly the public turn on the politics or reasons for the war, which inevitably results in the soldiers being tarred with the same brush. A lot of these soldiers then don't know where to turn or what to think, (have I done something wrong? My government told me it was just!) which can be life threatening in more ways then one, both during and after the conflict.
Me and Wasanelder Once are probably going off the subject a bit here. For me it was just a poignient video.