News Today

As I scrolled through some of the recent blogposts I found this post submitted by “Conservative Ally.”

http://conservativeally.today.com/2008/09/06/vets-for-freedom-against-obama

The post contains a video from the group “Vets for Freedom” I encourage you to check it out, it is interesting to see what these people have to say.

Now look, the point of this blog is to educate people on both sides, democrat and republican, liberal and conservative. I try to fairly represent both sides, but this is something that I cannot bring myself go along with.

According to “Conservative Ally,” Barack Obama shouldn’t be allowed to say that he supports the troops because he doesn’t support the war. This is wrong. You can’t look at issues like these as black and white. There’s a gray area and frankly, that’s where a lot of Americans stand.

If Obama didn’t truly support our troops then why would he vote yes twice for Bill H.R. 1591. This bill provided our troops with better health care, didn’t allow tours-of-duty to be extended for over a year, provided adequate armor for military vehicles, and required the secretary of Defense to inspect military medical centers and housing.

Why would he vote for that? To steal his words from an earlier debate with Hilary Clinton, “Once we had driven the bus into the ditch, there were only so many ways we could get out.”

It is entirely possible for Obama to support the troops and not support the war. This doesn’t make him, or anyone else that feels this way, any less patriotic. Perhaps if the current administration hadn’t changed the reason for the war three separate times then there would be more public support. When thousands of lives are at stake you need to look at the issue from all angles. Blind Patriotism can be a very dangerous thing.

Moving past Obama though, not even all of our troops support the war. In fact, in 2006 a poll was taken amongst the troops there and an overwhelming 72% of the troops said they wanted out of Iraq in a year. 25% wanted to leave immediately. Are these men “unpatriotic?” No, they’re doing the ultimate service for their country. I support them, and I support their opinion against the war. They would know better than me wouldn’t they?

Now John McCain has said that if the Iraqi’s want us to leave, then we should leave. Apparently he doesn’t communicate much with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

As early as 2007 al-Maliki felt that Iraqi forces were ready to take over the burden of their own country. “We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at any time they want,” al-Maliki told reporters in a press conference.

In an interview in 2008 al-Maliki responded “As soon as possible, as far a we’re concerned,” to a question about when the U.S. should pull out their forces.

He then went on to say that, while he wasn’t endorsing Obama, that Obama’s suggestion for withdrawal of combat forces in Iraq was “the right time-frame for a withdrawal.”

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to sound off on “Conservative Ally” and others who do support the war. You are entitled to your own opinion on the subject, all I can ask is that people back up their opinions with facts. Don’t for one second though think that you can tell me that I can’t support the troops without supporting the war.

Vets for freedom has this quote on the subject, “We think it’s intellectually inconsistent to say you support the troops not the mission. I’m a Vikings fan and that’s like saying, “I support the Minnesota Vikings but I don’t want to see them win the Super Bowl this year.“

This isn’t a football game. This isn’t black and white. This is life-and-death. This is the difference between American families being able to hold and touch their loved ones as opposed to attending their funerals. To downgrade the decision to anything else is purely, to steal their words, “intellectually inconsistent.”