Support the Troops?

The question "Do you support the troops?" is a poor one. Every politician will say they support them, but how they do it varies considerably. Some say they support them by calling for the troops to come home. Here's my take:

3 out of 4 Americans were in support of war in Iraq in March 2003. If you called for war, it is your obligation to continue supporting the mission until its successful completion. If you stop supporting the mission, you fail to support the troops you sent on that mission. Only if it is abundantly clear the mission cannot be accomplished should it be abandoned (I have not seen evidence of this being true in either Iraq or Afghanistan). Americans forget how difficult military action is because of the brevity of the 1991 Gulf War and the remoteness of aerial bombing in Kosovo in 1999. Americans want to win wars, but they no longer want to get their hands dirty (Somalia 1993).

Even with relentless negative reporting, a majority still responds the war is going 'very well' or 'fairly well'. About the same percentage want the troops to stabilize Iraq before coming home.

I support the troops by supporting their mission.