boatin

I absolutely, and without equivocation think this war was a bad idea. I think we were sold a bill of goods, and been mislead to get us there. I have zero respect for the administration, their intent and their execution of this war.

I absolutely support the troops. I support spending money to get them equipment to do their jobs. I support spending money on Veteran benefits when they get home. I support raising taxes to pay for those two ideas. Or making cuts in other (military, if possible[how many new weapon systems would need to be scraped to pay for all that? a quarter of one?) areas to pay for them. I believe supporting the troops starts by listening to the Pentagon and sending the troops THEY recommend, not what politicians think we should do.

We are there, and need to do a credible job there. And we need to have a plan to get out of there. With timetables.


If I were a soldier in Iraq (like my cousin, my friend, and my (work) acquantance) I would find my morale to be BETTER with the above sentiment then with the blind "i support the administration" stance. I can point to 3 soldiers who find no "morale busting" with the support the troops/dislike the war stance.

Others are entitled to whatever opinion they hold, of course.

Now it's my turn for the "not understanding": I've always been confused (since the time 2 years ago argueing with Sixate on these boards) at the problem people see in holding those two positions [love the soldiers/hate the war]. I've been called unpatriotic many times, both on boards and in person, when I've expressed my opinion.

I honestly don't understand. They are two different things. How can I NOT have 2 separate opinions of them?