Argue the policy, but support the troops

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA HAS announced that 30,000 more American troops will be sent to Afghanistan to lead the fight to rid that country of Taliban and terrorist influence.

Now the debate has begun over whether or not that is the right step and rightly so — after all, isn’t that what our service men and women are fighting to defend, our right to hold and express our own individual opinion on issues.

But what we should all be united on, whatever our opinion of the policy may be, is our support of the men and women who are being sent into harm’s way to defend our liberties and freedom.

No war this nation has ever fought has had the complete and undivided support of 100 percent of the people. Indeed, we fought each other in the bloodiest, costliest war in our nation’s history — the Civil War. So disagreement over current war policies is only natural — and to be encouraged.

But another of our most divisive wars — the Vietnam War — was marred by an unfortunate tendency by many who opposed the war to transmute that opposition into vitriol and personal vindictiveness toward individual service members. While stories of soldiers being spat upon on their return from Vietnam may or may not be apocryphal, symbolically at least they were — and that was wrong.

Perhaps the greatest lessons of that war may have been to teach us that, no matter what we may think of the reason service men and women are sent into harm’s way, the individual soldier, sailor, Marine or airman/woman deserves and needs our support every day.W

e here in Sheboygan County have sent our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends to Iraq and to Afghanistan in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism, and more are certain to go and risk their lives for our safety and freedom.

We boast of many fine efforts locally — be it organized ongoing efforts like the Camo Quilt project, the Military Families Connect organization or periodic efforts by groups and classes to send letters and packages of support — to provide that necessary support and caring

As the war continues, and as we are certain to send more of our local citizens to fight in that effort, we all need to continue the level of support we have shown thus far. It’s the least we can do, and the most they need.

At issue: Something or other Bottom line: Do something about it