The antiwar movement and the troops

I just posted something in the comments below, but decided it was a very important point which deserved a post of its own. A pro-war commenter (one of our rare such commenters) wrote (among other things):

"You and your kind have demoralized our women and men in combat, which in my opinion, does impact how quickly we can bring them home."

I don't mean to single out this particular commenter; the reason I'm responding to this is because this is indeed a widely expressed sentiment by war supporters. Let's start with the premise: the troops are demoralized. I know of absolutely no evidence that this is true; indeed, here's an AP headline from just a few days ago: "U.S. Troops Maintain High Morale in Iraq." But whether the troops' morale is high or not, is it affecting their performance? Again, I know of no evidence that would suggest that is true. What is affecting the performance of the troops, and the rate at which they are dying, is the continued shortage of armored vehicles and body armor for the troops (and, of course, the fact that they're in Iraq in the first place), which, the last I checked, are all the fault of the Administration, not of the antiwar movement. Their performance is likely also affected by the fact that 82% of Iraqis don't want them there, which means there's hardly anyone in the entire country they can trust, and they have to spent their whole time there watching their back. Are the Iraqis opposed to the American troops because of the antiwar movement in the United States? Hardly. They're opposed to them because they don't like being occupied.

Back in this country, there is a large "counter recruitment" movement trying to discourage people from enlisting. Is that having any effect? Maybe, but I suspect that 99% of the decreased enlistment in the armed forces and reserves and National Guard is a result of two things: potential recruits know that there is a reasonable chance they'll return from Iraq dead or wounded, and they know the war was started under completely false pretenses. Once again, hardly the responsibility or fault of antiwar protesters.

"Support the troops, bring them home," isn't just a slogan. It's the truth, because it's the only way to really "support the troops" and see that they don't come home in a box, or in a wheelchair.