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A veteran - whether active duty, retired, discharged, national guard or reserve - is someone who (whether they understood it or not at the time) wrote an undated blank check made payable to "The People of The United States of America", for an amount of "Up to and Including My Life."--Unknown

I was asked why I say that I support our troops but not war. The person asking me was of the opinion that you have to be pro war to be pro troops. I'm not pro war and only a psychotic, or a neo-con could be so.

I believe war is sometimes unavoidable. I believe war is a moral undertaking in some cases. I believe that it is something we should avoid if possible and move heaven and earth to win if not. The person I was talking to was more interested in the current war in Iraq than generalities about war. I tried to explain that principals are more important than applications. He was having none of that. In his mind if your not worshiping GWB than you're against the flag, mom and apple pie. I tried to explain that I'm a fan of pie in general and apple in specific. He didn't get it, or see the remark as humorous.

As to Iraq. Bush didn't lie, he gave the reasons he thought we should go fight. As it turns out most of his reasons turned out to be based in fact. Congress went along for the ride. They look more like weasels every time they try to get around this inconvenient truth. Of course as congress critters they look like weasels or snakes anyway so it can be hard to tell whats happening based solely on looks.

We're in a war. Lets finish up and win it and bring the boys home. We don't need another war with Iran, or any other country friendly with "extremism". If these nations are so dangerous and pose so great a threat that we must always keep our troops on their soil, I have another suggestion. Kill them all. Use the nuclear option. The USA has shown in the past that we can and will turn our enemies into smoldering piles of radioactive rubble.

I posed this suggestion to my friend. He was against it. I asked why. Surely GWB can make intercession for our souls if that's what you're worried about. If you're pro-war and pro-victory and its all about making the sandbox safe for democracy, kill em all. Nothing could be safer than bombing them with nukes from 30,000 feet. He was still against it. I told him he hated his mother and apple pie.

I guess my main point, and here you didn't think I had one, is that the quote I provided explains why I support our servicemen but not finding lots of little reasons to send them out to shoot people. Those who take up our nations uniform do so for us. They serve us, you, me our families, no matter the cost. They wrote that blank check on their life because they value us. I honor and support them, no matter the conflict, because they did it for me, even if I might not have ordered them to go. They earned it.