Support of Troops and War

A Repost from May 17, 2007

It has become that time. What time is that you ask? Time when you can no longer support the troops and support the war. I
have discussed this with many of my friends over the last few years, and I believe I have finally be proven correct in my
theories. Here they are:

Theory One: If you vow to support the troops fully, you also support the war.

Theory Two: To end a war you must either; defeat the enemy or remove support/authorization for the war.

Theory Three: To remove support/authorization for the war, you must eventually remove support for the troops.

Yes, I know that the whole thing is one big theory in its own right, but they all can stand alone independently and remain true.
I will break it down by each theory then combine them all for my final points.
In theory one I state that by supporting troops, you support the war(s) they are fighting. If you give the troops all they need to fight and win, you provide the material to fight a war. If you give them the tools, the weapons, and the training, then their commanders (including the Commander in Chief, the President) will be able to fight a war when needed. This is the case with the current war. The troops are well trained, well equipped, and well armed. In battle, there is no foe that can stand against them. This allows the battles to be had and victories to be won. As long as the troops are supported, the war can continue on a logistical basis. If the weapons and tools are available, the commanders will fight the war until told to stop or until the war is won. That is their job, and they do it well.
In theory two I state that to end a war you must either defeat the enemy or remove the support/authorization for the war. If the enemy is defeated and there remains no opposition, the war is completed and success has been achieved on a strategic field. (I will not go into what constitutes a victory at this time) If the enemy remains or the objective has not been achieved, the war will continue until the objective is achieved. That is what the military does, and does it well. They do not back down, they continue to bring pressure to the fight and seek the enemy to destroy the enemy. As long as troops, tools, and weapons are available, the military will press on.
In theory three I state that to end a war the enemy must be eliminated or support/authorization must be removed. This is the most important part of the theories. The military will continue their mission as stated in theory two and as allowed by theory one. However, then it comes time for the war to end (this should be read as; when the political environment no longer supports the war as in this current conflict) there are limited methods in which to do so.
The most obvious one has already been discussed. Defeat the enemy and the war ends. If no one is left to oppose the troops, then they have no war to fight.
The second option is to end the war be declaration that the troops will no longer fight the war. (it should be noted that this does not say the troops are not WILLING to fight the war, instead they are ordered to stop their actions) In this current conflict we have reached this stage. The first option appears many years or decades away at best, and leaves only the second option. At present time the political will also seems to be unable to order the troops home, so the only remaining option to end a war is to remove the ability to fight the war.
This method of ending a war works well. It is the primary method of ending war that has work in the following conflicts;
Spanish American War, World War 1, World War 2, Cold War, Falklands War, First Iraq War, and even the Cuban Uprising/Liberation (depending on which side of the war you were on.) In all above listed, one side lost the ability to wage war effectively and were forced into surrender. In the world wars the enemy no longer had the material to support their war machines and surrendered. In the First Iraq War, the Iraqi Army was sufficiently destroyed as to have no ability to engage in battle. In none of these did the enemy surrender due to the lost will to fight, but instead the inability to resist further.
Again, we have reached this point in our current conflict. In order to end the war, the support to wage war must be removed. Once the ability to wage war is removed the conflict will end. Theory two states that commanders will fight using the tools and weapons available. If they lack the tools to complete the mission, they will not complete the mission. Granted, our military has shown an enormous ability to find the materials to wage war. (Armor not strong enough, we welded more on. Body armor too weak, we bought better armor. M-16 not powerful enough to go through concrete, we broke out the M-14 and strapped a scope on it. The list continues with defeating IED's and other items) However, if they lose the material and weapons, they cannot fight a war. They will not stand up to be shot at while having no ability to fight back.
Now we reach the final part of this discussion.
By removing the ability to wage war, thus end the war, you remove support for the troops. If the troops have the ability to fight, they will. If the troops do not have the ability to fight, they will not. If the troops are unable to fight, support for them has been lost. If support for the war has been lost, support for them will eventually be lost.
While the American People and the American Government will (hopefully) always respect those who serve, it remains impossible to support troops and not support a war. Just as a war cannot be fought with out supported troops, neither can troops be supported without support for the war they are engaged in. (See Vietnam conflict. Putting aside the stance of some being against the troops, once the ability to fight the war ended, so did the war. Plain and simple.)
It takes courage to stand up against things you do not believe in (and standing up for things you believe in takes courage,too). I respect everyone that is against and for the war. I hold nothing against those who want to end the war.
Most troops would also like to see the war over. They will, however, continue to fight the war as long as they are able to do so and are ordered to do so. That is their duty. They will do their duty until they cannot anymore.
Soon we will see what occurs with support for the war. Troops will continue to due the job, it is up to everyone else to tell them when the job is done. Hopefully, we tell them their job is done through an order, not through lack of support.

(see options for ending a war)