If You Can’t Stand Behind Our Troops, Then Stand in Front of Them

The other day I read this sign and out of all the signs that are on the subject of the Iraq war and our troops, this one hit me very deeply. I find this sign to be so true. I am not politically savvy but there are basic that we understand.  For anyone that don’t support our troops then take their place to find the meaning of why they are there. I am not talking about the political side of it; I’m talking about young men that are subjected to the horrors of war. The ones who watch their friends die or die themselves. Have we learnt nothing from the past?

I have watched this war evolve from the day of its conception and have followed it through to present day but still the reasoning behind this war eludes me. The reasons our son, fathers, brothers,daughters, wives and mothers are there is simply to serve God and their country on their part. It’s because our nations called on them and they did not say no.

This is a war that could have and should have been avoided. Even I, when following it over the years, could see the major mistakes that were taking place in government. It was a war that was fought too little, when it started, and too long when they returned to Iraq. If I remember correctly the reason for the war was the invasion of Kuwait and due to the amount of nuclear devices that the Iraq government had. The invasion of Kuwait had to be stopped but no proof was every found of nuclear weapons, at least not enough to go to war.

I look at this war from the aspect of our solders that have been involved from the beginning; some that returned wounded some that returned changed forever and some that returned to be laid to rest. Even though I am a Canadian I am tied to the war in Iraq I have a nephew fighting there in the American Arm Forces. We are all tied to Iraq, every one of us, which is in the group called mankind.

Most Americans I would assume want to put this war behind them with the bases for this being that it has become a collective exhaustion. It is almost like the mood of the Vietnam War only this time we will stand behind the troops that come home and support them every way we can and as I stated before if we don’t stand behind our troops then stand in front of them. They were sent there by a President that decided there was going to be a war. Whether it was for political reasons or a trumped up excuse we’ll never know. Could we not have ended it then when Kuwait was safe? Whatever the reason behind it, it is time to call it quits and bring our boys home.

In Canada I have seen your men brought home from Afghanistan and Iraq where they died on foreign soil. I have watched mothers and families disintegrate from the pressure of losing their boy. We can’t help but wonder if it’s worth it. How much longer can this go on?  Afghanistan or Iraq doesn’t want our troops there. I realize it is not as simple as that and the powers that be will determine when our boys can come home.

President Obama has promise to bring our troops home and I believe that he will but when he do let’s remember that they have been to hell and returned, they are the ones we are so proud of and they are the ones that will go forward into the future with a new attitude concerning war. Don’t let this be a war where our homecoming troops are pushed aside and forgotten. They are doing their part let’s be ready to do ours when it is finally over.