"Love the murderer, but hate the murder?"
"Love the rapist, but hate the rape?"
Mr.Pink ... please explain how you can support troops that are carrying out a mission that you believe to be immoral, illegal, or for whatever reason you oppose the mission? It might .. just might, perhaps .. be logical if these troops were drafted into the military and forced to perform the mission upon threat of death or grievous bodily harm. These are volunteers; most, if not all, are performing the mission because they believe in it. The remainder are performing the mission because they took an oath to obey their superiors. In either event, the soldiers ARE the mission.
You can no more logically state that you back the troops and oppose the war than you can say that you back the murderer but oppose the murder.
mur·der (mûrdr) n. The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice. Slang. Something that is very uncomfortable, difficult, or hazardous: The rush hour traffic is murder. A flock of crows. See Synonyms at flock1. v. mur·dered, mur·der·ing, mur·ders v. tr. To kill (another human) unlawfully. To kill brutally or inhumanly. To put an end to; destroy: murdered their chances. To spoil by ineptness; mutilate: a speech that murdered the English language. Slang. To defeat decisively; trounce. v. intr. To commit murder. Idioms: get away with murder Informal To escape punishment for or detection of an egregiously blameworthy act. murder will out Secrets or misdeeds will eventually be disclosed.
Killing in defence for self or others isn't murder;
kill (kl) v. killed, kill·ing, kills v. tr. To put to death. To deprive of life: The Black Death was a disease that killed millions. To put an end to; extinguish: The rain killed our plans for a picnic. To destroy a vitally essential quality in: Too much garlic killed the taste of the meat. To cause to cease operating; turn off: killed the motor. To tire out completely; exhaust: “The trip to work, and the boredom and nervousness of jobs, kills men” (Jimmy Breslin). To pass (time) in aimless activity: killed a few hours before the flight by sightseeing. To consume entirely; finish off: kill a bottle of brandy. Sports. To prevent a hockey team on a power play from scoring during (a penalty). To cause extreme pain or discomfort to: My shoes are killing me. To mark for deletion; rule out: killed the story. To thwart passage of; veto: kill a congressional bill. Informal. To overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration: The outstanding finale killed the audience. Sports. To hit (a ball) with great force. To hit (a ball) with such force as to make a return impossible, especially in a racquet game. v. intr. To cause death or extinction; be fatal. To commit(in the act of) murder. Informal. To make such a strong impression as to overcome: dress to kill. n. The act of killing. An animal killed, especially in hunting. A person killed or to be killed: “Infantrymen... had seen too many kills suddenly get up and run away or shoot at them as they approached” (Nelson DeMille). An enemy aircraft, vessel, or missile that has been attacked and destroyed. Sports. A kill shot. Phrasal Verb: kill off To destroy in such large numbers as to render extinct.
Our service members are not murdering anyone, Saddam Hussien commited murder already...