Post #27891 by Cultjam on Tue, Mar 25, 2003 11:17 AM

It is NOT a contradiction to support the troops and then go demonstrate against a war. It is the essence of a functioning democracy.

Each soldier has made a personal commitment to follow orders regardless of their personal beliefs. No military can function properly without that commitment and we've now seen the tragic consequences for us when a soldier betrays that commitment. Furthermore, the military does not decide to take action on it's own. That decision is made by the President, aka the Commander in Chief.

The beautiful thing we have in this country is that our President cannot just decide to go to war. He has to make the case and answers to us, the citizens of the US. We are ultimately responsible to be the check against abusive use of our military. Democracy won't work if we don't do our part.

Any demonstration against war in our democracy is useless if it's directed at our military, it's not their decision, it was the President's!

Iraq does not have that balance, their citizens are not allowed to disagree with Saddam. That is why we feel justified to ask their soldiers to betray that commitment.

I admire the commitment that fellow citizens have made to serve in our military and support them wholeheartedly. I also recognize my part in this is to be aware and demand my leader makes the case for this war and any other military action to insure our soldiers are not put in harms way needlessly or without good cause. If he fails to do so, it's not just my right to express my disagreement, it's my responsibility to the troops who have surrendered their right to pick and choose what they will do for us.