I am well past the age where I can get in uniform but I do everything I can to actively support our people over there and their families here. I have personal relationships through my work with troops with the X Mtn, 101st in Iraq and at Camp Phoenix in Afghan. We keep more than a couple of them supplied with everything from Dr. Scholl's to duct tape. We also collect quality clothing and deliver it ourselves to two posts, the closer of which is @ 400 miles away.
My feelings about folks shouting bring it on from the safety of their own bedrooms are emotionally driven by what I've seen myself at both Trade Center bombings and by the real dangers that people I care about, including a Captain in the 2ID Stryker Brigade who just deployed, are facing in this fight. I truly respect your experience.
With all due respect, you don't know where the posts your taking offense at are coming from, nor the backgrounds of the posters.
I guess your hijab routine is being done out of fear, we get your point, you don't get ours, and most of us will not be shouted down by a minority - shouting minorities helped create the circumstances that brought us 9/11 in the first place.
Let angry Americans vent. If FACEd by a terrorist, 99.9 percent of us would do everything in our power to take him down, whether armed or unarmed and we know it.
I have to say that is very commendable. I can tell you from personal experience that when soldiers receive care packages from people they don't even know, it has very emotional significance to them. When I was in the gulf we had a business man located close to the post fly all the way to Saudi just to bring us cookies...about 4000 cookies.
It is just important to find the fine line between not agreeing with the actions and how the soldiers may perceive that disagreement. I have no disbelief in what I am about to say: if all Americans rallied behind the troops and their mission in Iraq, it would be over quicker. My reasoning: if they see there nation completely support them, there motivation and focus goes through the roof. They think to themselves "this is the right thing to do" instead of "well, maybe we shouldn't be here." Once soldiers start to lose focus, things start to unravel. It is not technology that wins wars, it is the people using tools to win wars. If the people fail, the tools are useless. Look at the motivation of the North Vietnamese. They were way outgunned, but highly motivated. They caused a hell of a lot of problems for our soldiers. If all our soldiers had the same motivation and focus on the cuase...well, there is no telling how it would have turned out, but I think it would have leaned in our favor in the long run. Not saying bad things about Vietnam vets, just saying that every soldiers heart was not where it should have been. Much (most) of that I attribute to a lack of support from home. Many good people lost their lives in Vietnam that in the long run had people asking "what did we accomplish?" I don't want to see that happen in Iraq. My fear is that the Democrats can do that. They have been sowing those seeds of "what are we doing there" since it began. To me, what we are doing there is clear.