Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Stop using our troops for cheap political gain

I was reading an article about the towns in Wisconsin that voted to bring home the troops. The AP article written by Emily Fredrix contained the following:
"The morale of soldiers - and their safety - could dip when they hear about such referendums passing, said Bill Richardson, treasurer of Vote No To Cut And Run, a group that opposed the measures.
"It's a political statement and it's hurting people and it could cost lives," said Richardson, 63, a one-time bandmaster in the Wisconsin Army National Guard."

I'll tell you, I am so sick of people speaking for "the soldiers" in Iraq. It's just stupid on its face. "The soldiers" are just like Americans everywhere. They differ and have different experiences and opinions.

Sure, some soldiers may get bummed out that the folks back home don't support the war. Others will probably get excited that there is a chance they'll get out of there early, or not have to go back. I just returned from an 18 month deployment, 11 of which were in Iraq, and I'm still a member of the National Guard. I think most soldiers, being educated and on the whole pretty intelligent, will realize the votes are just politics and not likely to translate to anything meaningful in their lives.

Anytime a person speaks for "the soldiers" as a group the person is just trying to use the soldiers as an excuse to promote his or her own viewpoint. I think it is exploiting our troops, and I'm sick of hypocrites who say they support the troops using them for cheap political purposes.

3 comments:

saraeanderson said...

You know, that's an excellent point. I linked to this post today - good job. Also, I just wanted to say thank you for serving your country like you do - it's much appreciated and something to be proud of.

Alan said...

You're welcome. Service is my privilege and honor. And thanks for the link.

Bubblehead said...

Alan --
Great point, members of the Armed Forces reflect America in the spectrum of their political views a lot more than some would have us believe. Speaking as what you would probably consider to be the ultimate REMF (CENTCOM HQ in Tampa in 2003-04 - tried to go to Iraq, but they didn't need submariners) I join Sara in thanking you for and admiring your service as a citizen-soldier.