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Opinion

Troops need more than flag-waving

Nick Somarakis
Opinion columnist

Somewhere in Iraq, a sergeant tells everyone in the armored vehicle to stay down because they are traveling down a dangerous road. One Marine however, foolishly stands up to look around as they roll down the street. Almost immediately after the Marine stands up, a roadside bomb explodes.

In a scene too often repeated, the force from the blast lifts the Marine off his feet and thrusts him into the metal of the armored vehicle. 

His head is crushed against the metal, and he quickly loses consciousness -- everything turns black. Blood oozes from his ears and nose as his fellow soldiers rush to stabilize him and get him to a hospital. This Marine, luckily, has a chance to live and tell this story. 

Experiences such as this have occurred on a regular basis since Mar. 20, 2003, when the military invasion of Iraq began. 

President George W. Bush, prior to the invasion, built support for the war and justified it with what was then supposedly the credible threat of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

A majority of the American public approved of the invasion of Iraq and supported Bush. Yard signs and bumper stickers have been created reading "I support President Bush and the Troops." 

Although the U.S. public support for the war was relatively strong at the onset of the war, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found -- the search was officially called off recently -- and the troops have been in harms way for almost two years, with no end in sight. 

Despite the constant danger that our soldiers face, there are still stickers that proclaim "I support President Bush and the troops."

If you truly support the troops, you do not expose them to dangerous situations based on false assumptions and you do not ask them to go to war based on bad intelligence. 

So, it may seem a contradiction to state that one supports Bush and the troops because he used false assumptions to go to war, and now the troops are in harms way.

The supporters who put up those signs are guilty of lazy patriotism. They put up stickers, they salute the flag and they put ribbons on their cars, but in the end all those acts do little to make life better for the soldiers in Iraq.

Those who care about our troops are willing to fight for military pay raises, better retirement benefits and fully funded healthcare for veterans.

The real supporters question the government any time it wants to put our troops in harm's way. 

They demand to know when, why and how many lives it may cost. They do not follow blindly behind any one president because of the president's political affiliation.

The most patriotic way to support our troops is to avoid exposing them to harm unless it is absolutely necessary.

Somarakis, a columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu