Its the troops, stupid...

The Bush Administration seems to be down to one major defense of the Iraq War - Support Our Troops. No matter what the substance of the criticism leveled against the war, "Support Our Troops" is the inevitable refrain. However, I must say that I don't quite understand the nuances and implications of this argument.

Maybe this issue has already been covered thoroughly, but I haven't heard it, at least not in a while. Namely, does the "Support Our Troops" argument imply that one must do so even if one disagrees with the war? The fact that conservative commentators and the Administration use this argument to respond to virtually all explicit and implicit criticism of the war would seem to suggest that indeed we must support our troops even if we are against the war. Furthermore, the argument strongly implies that insofar as dissent against the war amounts to an unpatriotic failure to support our military personnel, and insofar as such failure is wrong, then we must deduce that dissent against the war is wrong.

Well, if my premises are roughly correct, then this is certainly a nifty little logical trap that has been set for us. In sum, it means that one cannot be against the war, lest this person commit the treasonous act of "emboldening the enemy" and costing American lives. What a cute little maze of circular logic! The sad part is that I'm sure this counter-argument was thoroughly polled and focus-tested and apparently it performed particularly well (as did the mention of 9/11 in conjunction with defenses of the Iraq War). That it did so makes sense - who wants to appear to not care about our troops risking and losing their lives?

Quite frankly, the "Support Our Troops" argument, were it not inherently bullshit, would be totally brilliant.

P.S. The Johnson and Nixon Administrations used the same tired refrain during the late pre- and post-Tet Vietnam War period - that every time an editorial or young demonstrator voiced anti-war opinions, he or she was emboldening the Vietcong or NVA, and costing American lives.