Pondering the mysterious

I've been visiting the blog "Kickin' the Darkness" for the commentary, and I was freshly struck by a little blurb hosts Dan and Marc have stuck up in the right hand corner.

clipped from kickin-the-darkness.blogspot.com Support the Troops! Bring them back from Iraq. Bring them home to their families. Heroes lost: 3818

Self-evidently, the blurb recommends supporting the troops by bringing them back from the theater of conflict. If any number of the troops believe in the mission that they are there to accomplish, however, then in what sense are they supported by bringing them home?

Let's grant that those who wish to return home regardless of the mission would be supported by the requirement that they be brought home. What of the rest, however?

It seems that this type of support is somewhat comparable to the support of a cheerleading squad at a football game where their team is getting trounced. With the good of the players in mind, they just want to get the game over with to avoid possible injury.

Take a knee! Take a knee!
When time runs out then we can flee!

Now, this type of observation has been made by many conservatives, so I wouldn't even bother posting about it except for the particular wording used at KtD. The war dead are "heroes."

What makes them heroes to those who want to abruptly terminate the war effort regardless of the outcome? Perhaps some in opposition to the Iraq war could give a coherent answer, but I suspect that for many (most?) of them, the troops are better termed dupes, pawns or suckers.

Again, this is not particularly original--it just struck a bit closer to home because the setting at KtD feels a bit more like community than national debate.

The impression I get from the blurb is that it patronizes our military. Our soldiers don't know what they're doing. They're irresponsible and in over their heads, so we have to save them from themselves for their own good. And that is "support."

Pentagon requests MRAP $ for fast delivery of mine-resistant vehicles

The US Department of Defense asked Congress for emergency funding to send mine-proof armored vehicles urgently to its troops facing roadside bombings in Iraq, a report said Wednesday.

The 750-million-dollar emergency funding request would allow the military to airlift the vehicles there in hours, rather than sending them on the weeks-long journey by ship, the daily USA Today reported.
(The News)

Expensive, but worth it if it keeps saving our soldiers' lives and helps successfully implement the surge strategy--and there's the rub.

The price tag isn't really that high as military funding goes, but Democrats have reason to deny this funding if they are truly convinced that Iraq is a lost cause.

Unfortunately, it seems that the Democrats see opposition to the war as a political tool. Many of them probably do recognize that U.S. resolve can win victory in Iraq--and vote against it in the name of political expediency.

For that reason, we should be able to expect Democrats to perform a Clintonian testing of the winds when they cast their votes. Regardless of their votes on the war, political calculus may indicate the necessity of looking like they support the troops even when it overlaps with supporting the mission.