Of Mercenary Troops and Scumbags

Fellow philophronos blogger Laura is pretty annoyed with William Arkin for what he wrote about the troops in The Troops Also Need to Support the American People. She has demonstrated that here and defended it further here.

Now anyone who has read both our blogs is aware that we disagree dramatically on the Iraq war. My initial thought was that Laura was going overboard at a fairly reasonable point–civilian control. But then I read Arkin’s blog entry. Starting with the title, he manages to obscure the one good point with a hail of contemptuous language.

Oh, by the way, I do consider “scumbag” excessive. But that’s just me. I might have gone with “condescending obnoxious elitist” or something like that.

• The troops don’t have to support the American people, they’re a part of the American people.
• The “American people” are not only what the majority want. I happen to be in that majority. I want us out of Iraq, but the people who disagree are also part of the American people, and so are the troops.
• Like the rest of the American people, troops are permitted to have opinions as well. I happen to disagree with much of what these guys said, but that’s life.
• Volunteer != Mercenary. Thank the volunteers, don’t beat them up.
• I have never met an obscene comfort, and I’d like to be given an example. I do wonder whether Mr. Arkin has been deployed, then extended and extended and extended without any choice in the matter. Perhaps whatever small comforts the troops can be provided might appear less obscene.
• I guess the troops are allowed to have any opinion except one of contempt for any portion of the people back home. Mr. Arkin has an odd view of “freedom of speech.”
• The troops in general should not be blamed for the various scandals, any more than a community should be blamed for having a mass murderer in it. Those responsible should be punished. Those not responsible are, well, not responsible.

What bothers me is that this is the very sort of attitude and writing that is not support for the troops. They are doing precisely what they are supposed to do. They are carrying out the will of the civilian leadership in Iraq. It’s not up to them to figure out whether their activities are popular. Those of us who oppose the war can do so, and we are doing so, by the legitimate means of the ballot box. That portion of the American people who are in uniform in Iraq don’t have control over that, and shouldn’t, one way or the other.

Support for the troops involves respecting what they do. It doesn’t mean excusing those who do wrong, but it also doesn’t mean blaming everyone in uniform for the faults of a few, nor does it mean blaming people in uniform for the faults of their civilian leadership.

On the other hand, it should be clear that one can oppose the war and support the troops. I was one of the troops in more than one conflict in which I disagreed with the civilian leadership. As a person in uniform, I carried out my orders. It’s as simple as that. But I will not, as a civilian, simply accept whatever military leaders happen to want to do. The Iraq war is a bad choice badly executed. But it has been executed by excellent volunteer troops who deserve our thanks.