Bring our troops home

Every day I see ribbon-shaped bumper stickers bearing the message "Support Our Troops." While most of us clamor to see the latest movie or ride our bikes on the weekends or plan our summer vacations, these bumper stickers remind us that there are American soldiers still fighting in Iraq, and we shouldn’t forget them.

Each soldier is someone’s father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter, and while fewer and fewer Americans are paying attention to the war, our troops are still getting maimed and killed. So far, more than 1,700 soldiers have died in Iraq and more than 13,000 have been injured.

When the war started three years ago, most Americans believed that it was justified and necessary. Back then, supporting the troops meant standing behind President Bush, presenting a united front to Saddam Hussein, encouraging our soldiers to do well and sending care packages.

Early in the war, we learned that despite enormous military budgets, thousands of troops did not have bullet-proof vests, and many Humvees were not equipped with armored plates to protect occupants from mines and car bombs. Communities all over the country responded with impressive fundraising and scrap-metal campaigns to directly support the troops.

However, as time passed, the public has grown weary of the war. If this weariness had turned into outrage, it might have been useful for the troops. An outraged public might have demanded more information and more planning from leaders in both parties.

Unfortunately, Americans have grown increasingly apathetic about the war. We’re not as interested in news about the latest insurgent attacks; we’re not sending as many care packages; we’re not organizing as many fundraisers; we’re not discussing the progress of the new Iraqi government; and we’re not holding as many debates about the efficacy of the war.

At most, we engage in partisan sniping in which one side insists that the war is a complete disaster while the other insists that the war is a complete success. This type of bickering doesn’t help our soldiers.

The bumper stickers urge us to "Support Our Troops," but exactly what should we do?

The best possible support would be to pull our soldiers out of Iraq today and return them to their families. Obviously, given the size of our forces and the continuing instability in Iraq, leaving today is neither practical nor possible.

But we must press Congress and the Bush administration to develop an exit strategy. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld insists that he has a "victory strategy" rather than an exit strategy, and that’s fine. In either case, we need a rough timeline, because we can’t simply order our soldiers to enter hostile territory and then leave them there for years while we move on to other things.

We owe them better than that. Rumsfeld said this week that "timing in war is never predictable." That’s true, but we have many subject-matter experts in our government who should be able to advise the administration about the rough costs of war, the lives that are likely to be lost, and the estimated time it will take to achieve various objectives.

Supporting our troops means that we must demand answers to questions that our troops can’t ask themselves. We must do everything we can to make sure they don’t languish in harm’s way longer than necessary. Our soldiers have families that they would love to return to, and we should help make that happen.

The general public should follow the advice of another bumper sticker that reads: "Support Our Troops - Bring Them Home!"

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_2820572