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I have often been asked, when I was the wife of a soldier deployed to Iraq, and now as the wife of an Iraq Veteran, how it is possible for me to say that I support the troops but I do not support the war. I often turn the question around and ask, "Well, what is it you do to support the troops?" Most people can not formulate an answer. The truth is, that most people do not think much on the phrase "Support the Troops" past the moment that they stick the yellow ribbon magnet on the back of their vehicle. It's an empty phrase, something they like to think they do, but in reality never put into action.

It is very much possible to support the troops, the men and women who volunteered to serve our nation, to honor the sacrifices that they and their families make every day, to mourn their losses with them, and still not support this war. Support is an action.

For me, supporting the troops means utilizing the very rights that they swore to uphold when they took their oath to join the military. It means using my voice to question my government, its methods, and its actions. Thomas Jefferson said, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism;" the responsibility to maintain the checks and balances in your elected government are not only a guaranteed rights, it is our patriotic duty. What kind of support are you really giving them if you stand silently by and watch policies enacted that only bring them death and injury?

We have been given a multitude of ever-changing reasons for this war, as each reason was proven false, the spin machines of the administration came up with a new justification. They touted the tragedy of September 11th and utilized the atmosphere of fear created in its wake to push this nation into war in a country that was never connected with the events of that day. We sent our best and brightest into the desert without body armor, without armored vehicles, without adequate supplies. We took away the self sufficiency of military units by bringing in companies like KBR to cater and build, compromising troop security as local Iraqis were hired to build and work on military sites. We sacrificed our men and women for profit. There was no planning for the occupation of Iraq, there is still no end in sight, there are still troops deploying every day, some for their second, third, or even fourth time. Our military hospitals and veterans administrations were not prepared to deal with the influx of so many into the system, leaving our wounded soldiers without timely and adequate care.

Not only is it possible to support the troops without supporting this war, we owe it to the troops to do so. We owe it to them to see that they are never again sent into a war under false pretenses, undergeared, undertrained, past the termination of their individual contracts, and without an exit strategy.We owe it to them to pressure our government to ensure that they receive those things that they so desperately need. We owe it to them to ensure that they are taken care of when they return home, that we as a grateful nation show our support for the trials they have endured. The men and women of the US Armed Forces joined for various individual reasons. They all took an oath swearing to uphold the US Constitution and to serve this nation. They did so with the implicit understanding that their gift of service would not be used in vain. We owe it to them to support them with our action, not our empty rhetoric.

Learn more about this author, Jessica Salamon.
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