Is there no good news in the world? There's precious little in this thread.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

And yet we cannot say "we don't support the troops" and remotely hope to persuade others to our peaceful point of view. That's quite a paradox right there.

By lying and saying "we oppose the war but support the troops" who exactly have you converted to your side? Besides, I've been heartily assured here that "we support the troops" is most certainly not the lying half of the equation. I'm willing to take that at face value. Therefore it is my contention that if you truly support the troops that you do not truly oppose the war (though you may want it to end as soon as possible, while it is going on despite your protestations you support its means).

Ghoulish Delight, you still have the same problem even if you choose to infantilize the soldiers out of any responsibility for their actions. If our war is unjust how can you support the aims which the individual soldiers are trying to achieve? Otherwise you are supporting an idealized version of our troops (the mythical ones that have given up on bloodshed and returned home) not a reality (the ones attempting to kill other people while avoiding death themselves).