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How Do We Define Support?
By lindamuralidharan on 2008-09-12 01:18:53
We hear a lot of comments going round and round about supporting our troops vs. supporting the war. In some instances
people who did not like what American military people were doing in Iraq were accused of being unpatriotic. Critics of the
war were accused of adding to the dangers presented to American soldiers in Iraq or even Afghanistan. Eventually some
anti-war groups decided they would have no credibility unless they declared support for the troops while still wanting the
war to end. In all honesty, I personally, want to see each and every member of the US military forces treated with dignity
and respect. This view of mine is in the context of my always having been against the United States’ invasion of both Iraq
and Afghanistan. Soon those of us of like mind in opposing the Iraq War began displaying signs that said, "Support the
Troops, Bring them Home Now." I know these signs attracted many more "middle of the road" folks to the anti-War
position. Recently we have heard from pro-war people that this kind of support for the troops is insincere. Thus I am asking
for a better discussion of what is inherent in the word "support' or, rather, what does it imply in different circumstances or
according to differing views of the war. Think for a minute about the word "enable". We could use this word to say we help
our children with their homework in order to "enable" them to do well in school. On the other hand, we find that when we
"help" a substance abuser by giving that person rent money when they are near eviction or we try to be understanding and
accept excuses about why the person is not getting along with his/or her boss, we end up not helping at all but rather by
"enabling" that person's disease of addiction to continue to dominate his or her life. Suddenly "enable" or "help" no longer
have positive associations but rather negative ones. They are, in fact, swords that cut both ways. What would it then look
like if we offered "support" to soldiers not just to keep them fighting safely but to refuse to fight an illegal war? What if we
offered support to soldiers who refuse to continue in an unjust war? What if we donated money for the defense of those who
declare conscientious objector status or refuse to deploy in response to illegal orders? Refuse to honor "stop loss" orders?
In many of these cases the legal merits of the case are murky and the moral challenges are agonizing. One person may have
voluntarily joined the military for sad reasons such as the failure of the country and the economy to provide any other means
for this person to work his or her way through college. Some kids are born to parents with little or no means of helping
their kids either with financial benefits or with life long skills that help them prepare for college, scholarships and the like.
It is understandable that some became volunteers for the educational and employment opportunities that seemed otherwise
denied to them. Others join because any country needs a solid defense force, and I, as anti-war as I am, can imagine some
eventuality (which we have not seen since Pearl Harbor) in which a misguided country makes a direct attack or threat of
imminent attack on the United States. I would want a well prepared military to respond, if all else fails, with some kind of
force to stop and turn back such aggression. I would also want this country to be prepared to do its part if the United
Nations agreed that aggression somewhere else in the world required an international, multilateral force to defend a weaker
country from some kind of invasion of its territoty. In any case, and for whatever reason, the men and women of our
voluntary military did make a commitment to obey their commanding officers. However, for the last several years, we have
had soldiers in combat who were not sent there for legitimate purposes that they and we thought they were trained for.
Many soldiers recognized this before or soon after the invasion began. The recent series "Generation Kill" which has played
on HBO repeats this information which we have had available to us for years. And some of the soldiers in the first days
there realized that for some reason the military and political strategies being applied at the time were going to lose the war
for our "side." Others realized they were being asked to violate the Geneva Conventions and even the US military's own
customary rules of engagement. A number of these soldiers would have welcomed a way out of a situation that was bad for
the country and themselves if they were not caught in a Catch 22. To stay would violate principles of ethics and good
government. To refuse to fight would violate their duty to obey orders, their commitment to their fellow soldiers, and to
their own personal sense of pride in their courage and skills. As more and more came to learn about the false premises of the
war and its shoddy mechanisms for getting the country to tolerate the President's orders to attack, as more and more came to
see how badly the war was being implemented, as more and more realized there was no clearly defined purpose in being
there, as more and more returned home not only disillusioned but horrified by the situations they found themselves in that
involved unnecessary and necessary killing of civilians as well as torture of "prisoners", veterans and active duty soldiers
began to speak out. some suffered personal hardships for refusing to go or refusing to return. Some organized to join the
anti-war effort. I will add a personal note here. I spent a number of years as an employed case worker for homeless
individuals with mental health issues. I struggled along with many from the Vietnam War to obtain adequate benefits,
housing and mental health treatment for these Vietnam veterans. I was every bit as much against that war as I am against
our two present wars of aggression, but I am never against a soldier or veteran. I offer these suggestions as peaceful and
patriotic methods of offering support to soldiers. 1. Accept each as an individual human being. 2. Lobby whenever possible
for improved housing, family support, legal protections, mental and _ physical treatment covered by tax dollars. 3. Lobby
for appropriate legal defense and donate to defense and support funds for soldiers wishing to refuse to fight in a war any one
of them might perceive to be unjust. This does not mean there might not be consequences. It means that citizen peace
advocates would assist the soldiers in pursuing all legal means of address, in limiting consequences to those that are fair and
the least proscribed by law, and in being treated with respect by the public for following their consciences. 4. Continue to
advocate for an immediate end to unjust wars which place soldiers, for the wrong reasons, in jeopardy of their lives and in
jeopardy of committing unethical acts for which they later suffer tremendous guilt, shame, and often severely damaged
mental health.
