Supporting The Troops - A Study in Contradiction

As the GOP is so fond of saying in the face of any topic being raised these days, “You can’t have it both ways.”

“Either you side with the president, or you side with the terrorists. Either you are with America, or you are with Al Qeada. If you do not support this war, you don’t support the troops.”

Well, it’s time someone pointed out something that has become abundantly clear in the way this war is being waged, and the way our troops are being treated. You either SUPPORT the troops, OR you support those who are overseeing the conduct of this war. And no, you CANNOT have it both ways.

During the course of the War in Iraq, under the Republican-run government, we have seen the gutting of benefits and pensions of US soldiers, and a flagrant disregard for their on-the-ground safety. While literally billions of dollars are being spent on this endeavor (much of it slipped into the pockets of Halliburton with a wink and a nod in place of any real accounting), our troops have been sent into combat without body armor, without vehicle armor, without helmet-inserts that could mean the difference between life and death, the difference between a debilitating brain injury and a headache.

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