Dear Editor,
I am told to “support our troops” now that war has begun.
I say, it all depends on what you mean. I want our troops out of harm’s way.
I support them in their right to choose the military, their feeling that they are doing their patriotic duty, and in their thinking that they are doing good. But I don’t support them for what, at the president’s orders, they are doing in Iraq.
I oppose their hostile entering of a country without international support. I don’t support them in their killing of Iraqis, both soldiers and innocent civilians. And I oppose them in their inevitable destroying of at least some infrastructure and resources that will lead to miseries in the future.
Please don’t look at me strangely if I can’t unqualifiedly agree with “But, of course, all citizens can and should support our troops.”
Neil Wollman

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