<p>answer "for" or "against"</p>
<p>it's for a school project.</p>
<p>strongly against (but strongly support the troops)</p>
<p>Against from the very beginning, but not for immediate withdrawal of troops either.</p>
<p>I'm against, but like Virgil, I can't support the withdrawal of troops either.</p>
<p>And in a side note, it has been just over three years to the day that I lost my brother-in-law over in Iraq. RIP Justin.</p>
<p>I think that the Iraq war was founded on lies and greed and should be ended immediately.</p>
<p>However, I support the troops, and always will because they're fighting and giving up their lives for what they believe is right. But I beleive that the best way to support them, right now, is to get them out of a dangerous quagmire.</p>
<p>I support the war but not it's "true" original realpolitik intentions (oil, political-support rallying) nor the current way its going. I support the theory and actual results behind the war however (the defeat of the tyrannical Saddam). </p>
<p>Everyone supports the troops obviously, who could honestly say without seeming like an idiot that they don't support our troops who are fighting and dying in that barren desert?</p>
<p>More for than against. I am, however, 100% against the people who, with the same knowledge we have now, and the entirety of American history, quite literally, shoved down their throats(including say, the whole Maddox affair, and the Maine, etc. Often, to be frank, by more radical elements of society who would really push the conspiracy angle. But I digress.) and with all that still, 90% supported the war at its inception.</p>
<p>Insurgencies last about 6-10 years, according to more than one military strategist and the annals of time, and casualities could never have hovered around zero.</p>
<p>Most certainly, Americans seem entirely unable to recognize that they are at all at fault:</p>
<p>"We didn't know!"</p>
<p>Perhaps you could have read the reports of other countries(or watched them on TV!) Or, you could have just looked(or hell, remembered) the things you were supposed to have been forced to know in history.</p>
<p>Or just let the military decide. Or people who know what they're talking about. Or, in fact, anyone else.</p>
<p>One is entirely entitled, mind you, to change his or her mind. I do it all the time. If I could go back and say, "Iraq, hey guys not a good idea," I would. But I can't. Nevertheless, it seems many (very many) people want to go back to 1999, and pretend it never happened.</p>
<p>But for once, violence is down, results are up. Petreaus's plan seems to be working. Al-Anbar's regional council, the Mahdi army, are actually acting as our allies(the latter, if you recall, were working with Iranian weaponry at one point.)</p>
<p>Less than 30% want to stay. They make excuses. Though, as the media has rather fallen silent, it seems most's apathy has returned. Nevertheless, the fact that Americans are so willing to jump in, get a bunch of people killed, and then realize that this war, like every other war(including the Falkland Islands!) endangers and kills soldiers, and thus wants to immediately leave regardless of consequences is absurd.</p>
<p>They want to leave Iraq in rubble. They did it in Somalia. They did it in Haiti. They did it in Iran. They'll soon realize Afghanistan isn't going well, and I'm sure they won't want to stay there. Not out of evil, merely selfishness and stupidity, with everyone's life but their own.</p>
<p>And worst, worst of all is this:</p>
<p>I had hoped, perhaps, that they would have recognized their failures. Recognized deception if real or even imagined, recognized that war will cost lives, recognized that not everyone wants our help, recognize that not all our enemies are evil or even not democratic. But they haven't. Right now over 60% of Americans want to bomb Iran. </p>
<p>For those who don't know(the vast majority of Americans, mind you,) the nation Iraq and Iran are neighbors, and not particularly friendly. All else aside, escalating that region's conflict seems, frankly, to be on the top ten worst military decisions of all time. </p>
<p>So, I am pro-war, not out of glory, not out of patriotism, but because the people of this country willed it, and the fickle mob should not choose to make a region collapse and a nation die.</p>
<p>If I could revert it, stop the death, or truly end the war, I would. But I can't, and withdrawing isn't going to help a thing.</p>
<p>I am also against the war, but I don't think we should pull out immediately. I believe it has to be done gradually or else we'll damage Iraq more than we help. I do support the troops; I concur with what RootBeerCaesar said on that subject.</p>
<p>Against, I'm also not "for the troops" either. What a ridiculous statement.</p>
<p>Sorta for... </p>
<p>I believe that the war was made on bad intelligence and frivolous grounds but we can't just pull out of Iraq with irresponsibility. We have to clean up the mess we made, and the worst thing we could do is shrug our shoulders and pretend it isn't our problem. </p>
<p>That's why we lost Vietnam. We need a better plan for Iraq and neither the President nor the bickering Congress seems to get that. Two hundred years from now, the future generations will not care what the public opinion was at the time, or about the Democrats or Republicans but simply whether we handled the conflict successfully or not.</p>
<p>HueyFreeman: How is supporting the troops ridiculous??</p>
<p>Cough Rosie O'Donnell'ist Cough</p>
<p>One might argue that those who commit the acts they see as evil are the troops, and that the argument of "following orders" is outmoded and representative of a more barbaric and authoritarian era that seperates the army and military from a changed world.</p>
<p>Of course, one could easily argue that the troops are pledged loyal to their home in the only collective possible to truly do so and are as much betrayed as any by the belligerent actions of other nations.</p>
<p>Some would see that pledge as accepting those contingencies.</p>
<p>And some would see that as good, and some would see that as bad.</p>
<p>Most people just want to look good after Vietnam veterans were finally given respect, and don't want to be looked poorly upon.</p>
<p>"Supporting the troops" is honestly a very hollow statement. Pardon to those who do, but its common repetition by politicians and the media is enough, to me, to render it worthless.</p>
<p>One can support the troops, but not by "supporting the troops."</p>
<p>Our knowledge is too limited to postulate on the underlying motives of the war!</p>
<p>However, irrespective of my feelings and knowledge of the motives which led to its commencement, I am against the war. Obvious violence and death issues aside, I felt the coalition's decision to attack Iraq, without gaining full support from both NATO and the UN shows utter disregard for what these organizations represent and completely undermines what we as a global society have strived for over the past 40 or so years: that of a co-operative global entity which works in harmony together for the greater good.</p>
<p>It is inexplicable actions like this that encourage hostility between nations and weakens trust and comaraderie.</p>
<p>I feel a chill coming in!....We're in for a COLD time!</p>
<p>Supporting the troops isn't ridiculous. Being against the war and supporting the troops is. I don't hate the troops, there's no reason to. But I certainly don't support them, I don't support what they are doing. They are very brave (or very stupid) which is nice, they have my respect in the sense that they are much more brave than I am, but that doesn't mean I support them.</p>
<p>Why shouldn't you support the brave men and women who freely volunteer to serve and defend our nation? Whether or not they should be in Iraq doesn't matter. I think it's safe to say that the troops actually in Iraq didn't make the decision to fight this war, so to me it doesn't matter that I don't think they should be fighting in it. </p>
<p>The choice our troops make in deciding to serve is incredibly loyal, brave, and selfless, and I support them for that. They're the ones volunteering their lives so you can have the freedom to not support them. If you respect them, I don't understand why you don't support them.</p>
<p>like a lot of people here, im strongly against it but im not for the immediate removal of the troops. i support them but i REALLY dont like it at all</p>
<p>Completely against from the beginning.</p>
<p>If we're not going to give it all we've got in Iraq, then we need to cut our losses and quit NOW. We need to send jets out TONIGHT and tell the troops to drop everything and get on the planes RIGHT THEN AND THERE and bring them home tomorrow, if we're just going to do a half-assed job. But if we're really going to try to win Iraq, then we need to invest everything we've got and more and win it once and for all.</p>
<p>Given Bush's track record, I support immediate withdrawal.</p>
<p>They are volunteering their lives so I can have freedom to not support them? Uh....how? Whether or not they are in Iraq DOES matter. They are not fighting for a just cause in my opinion, they are not protecting me in my opinion...I have no reason to give my support to them when I don't believe in what they are fighting for.</p>
<p>"Supporting the troops isn't ridiculous. Being against the war and supporting the troops is. I don't hate the troops, there's no reason to. But I certainly don't support them, I don't support what they are doing. They are very brave (or very stupid) which is nice, they have my respect in the sense that they are much more brave than I am, but that doesn't mean I support them."</p>
<p>no, not at all
I'm against the war, against the motives, the decisions taken that led to this point, the handling, etc. However, by saying I support the troops means I acknowledge that they don't have the choice as to whether they want to fight this war or not, so with that inability to choose, I support their fight, their endeavors, their safety, etc. I respect the position they are in and that they're serving our country, I just think they shouldn't have had to do this.</p>
<p>and excuse me for even saying that I support the troops even though I vehemently disagree with the war. It just riles me up when I see things like a facebook group with ~72,000 members whose title is "don't support our troops? then read this:" and the whole basis is speaking out against people who don't support the troops. Many people wrongly assume that people who are against the war couldn't care less about the troops, which while may be the case for some people, is anything but the truth for me.</p>