Protesting the war and supporting the troops
By JEFF WEBB
Published January 9, 2006
Leave it to a member of Congress to drag sex into a discussion about the war.
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite invited members of the media to join her for breakfast at a restaurant in Brooksville Friday morning. The Brooksville Republican covered a range of national issues including tax reform, Social Security, immigration and health care.
The scintillating topics barely offset the hypnotic effect of the biscuits and gravy, but things perked up for me a little later when I asked Brown-Waite a question about the war in Iraq. Had she really meant it when she told a small group of antiwar activists earlier in the week that it is virtually impossible to support the troops without supporting the war they are fighting?
"That's really splitting hairs. Our troops are there fighting a war, and they believe in what they are doing," she said Tuesday.
She attempted humor to affirm that position Friday.
"That's kind of like saying "I believe in birth control, but I left the condoms at home,"' she quipped.
Returning to a serious tone, the former Hernando County commissioner summed up her position on Iraq by saying "It is disrespectful to the troops to not support the war."
No disrespect intended, Congresswoman, but that's a bunch of bilge.
It is entirely possible to disagree with the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, and still care just as deeply as any flag-waving chickenhawk for the safety of the troops whose lives are at risk there.
Opposition to the war does not diminish patriotism unless the opponents are misusing it as a political weapon. The same is true for those who think the dominance of their political party is more valuable than a human life. People who confuse patriotism with politics are as big of a threat to this country as the terrorists we must conquer.
The point is, supporting the troops and condemning why they must fight are not mutually exclusive propositions.
Brown-Waite unintentionally sustained that argument Friday as she continued to discuss the war in Iraq.
Assuring us, as she has several times since the invasion of Iraq, that "nobody likes war," Brown-Waite shared with us that she was a "protester during the Vietnam War." She was quick to add that the reason she protested was because those troops "were not being allowed to win the war."
But her actions 35-or-so years ago contradict her current logic. She clearly objected to specific aspects of that war, yet her ultimate concern was for the troops.
Congratulations, Congresswoman. There are people today who are following in your footsteps. Like you, their goal is to save lives. And, like you, they are patriots who love their country and are willing to suffer the slings and arrows of critics while doing what they think is necessary to protect it.
Please don't allow tolerance of opposing ideas to become another casualty of this war. Now that would be disrespectful to the troops and what they are really fighting to preserve.
--Reach Jeff Webb, Hernando editor of editorials, at webb@sptimes.com or 352 754-6123.