Support Our Troops?

The father of an American soldier in Iraq questions the popular, yet meaningless, phrase "Support our Troops" (excerpt):

...There is no plan, there is no discussion and there is no leadership. Didn't we go into Iraq to protect ourselves from weapons of mass destruction and because of Iraq's connections with the terrorists, reasons that have been found to be utterly in error? Support our troops? The pointless death and maiming of this war is pure insanity and probably even criminal. In this war, many times those who died in the World Trade Center have been wounded or killed. Over 1,400 American soldiers are dead, over 10,000 soldiers are physically wounded while uncounted others are psychologically wounded, and, by some estimates, over 100,000 Iraqis have been killed and maimed. How can the killing be justified? Are we going to destroy a nation and kill its people to save it? We tried that once before. Support our troops? I am afraid for my son. I certainly worry about his being killed, but I am also worried about his being placed in the position of killing, too. Most of all, I am angry that we are sending our soldiers to a war that nobody can justify. Most Americans, especially members of Congress, do not have to worry about a loved one in the middle of this war, and they duck the tough questions. Why do we permit a defacto back-door draft of the National Guard and recycle them, too? We were lied to once before, and we must avoid being lied to again. Will President Bush be this generation's Robert McNamara? I hope not. Will the Congress have the courage to ask the relevant questions? I hope so. Support our troops?

Support Our Troops. Support Our Troops. Support Our Troops.

What a stupid, hypocritical and demeaning phrase. You people with these "ribbons" plastered all over your cars should be ashamed. The only way to "support our troops" is to bring them home now, immediately, no questions asked. The Iraqis don't want them there. The rest of the world doesn't want them there. Two-thirds of the American public definitely don't want them there (the other third don't understand or don't give a damn). The ONLY people who want our troops in Iraq are the Neocons-Military-Industrial-Petroleum-Complex. Our innocent young men and women are getting killed and maimed, and are killing and maiming innocent Iraqis ONLY for the sake of NMIPC. These troops should be in Sudan, halting the genocide there, or in the Indian Ocean, helping tsunami victims. Not in Iraq methodically destroying the cradle of our once proud civilization. Shame, shame, shame on America.