Let them rise up against him, like we did the British
200+ years ago!
Amen! If that's what they were doing, and calling for us to help them the way we called for the French to help us, I would be much more likely to support this war. Instead, we're going to give them their freedom for free, just like we give it to our own children for free in this country, and they're not going to appreciate it any more than our children do (or than we do, if we're younger than the WWII generation). In three shakes of a lamb's tail, once we move out, they're going to be right back where they were, trembling with fear under yet another oppressive dictatorship, with no idea what to do about it. Why? Because they're not ready for liberty yet. If they were, they'd rise up and take it, regardless of the cost.
We ought to be sending American TV, movies, radio, and commercialism into their country, not troops.
Let me point out here, just in case it's not already clear, that I don't accuse these Iraqis from a high plateau of moral superiority. I'm not worthy of liberty myself, when it comes right down to it, because I value my family, my life, and yes, my job and my possessions too much (so far, anyway) to throw a deer rifle in the back of the pickup truck, drive down to DC, and start potting politicians. I'm certainly no Patrick Henry. It's my lack of will to do that, and the same lack on the part of others like me, combined with the government's full knowledge of that lack of will, that keeps us from being truly free here in America today. We're frightened of the government, so we're slaves to an increasing extent. If the government were frightened of us, we'd be free men.
I have been to an unpopular war, and I know it's horrors on a
personal level while being in it and the aftermath once back in
the world.
Then you're a perfect person to answer my question. Why is public support such a crucial ingredient to a professional soldier being able to do his job properly? I have even heard people recently postulating that anything less than the level of support they advocate is equivalent to treason, because it amounts to "giving aid and comfort to the enemy" in time of war. Huh?
