We Support Our Troops

There has been a lot of talk about the "We Support Our Troops" decals that many communities have put on their vehicles here in Canada. The argument is that placing such a slogan on community property is the same as saying that we support the war in Afghanistan. Both sides of the debate over these decals are fighting over what they believe.
In fact, it can be argued that supporting our military could take the form of bringing them out of the war in Afghanistan.
The point is that we are showing concern for the men and women of the armed forces. You don't have to believe in all of the orders they are expected to follow. After all, they work for the government, and who ever said they knew what they were doing? Soldiers do what they are asked to do, protecting convoys, moving supplies or hunting down insurgents. They live in constant danger. Showing support for them is not supporting what they are doing, just being grateful they are willing to do it on our behalf, that they will walk into the risks so that we don't have to.
Maybe we should try thinking of the armed forces the way we think about fire fighters and police officers. Those are other people who do naturally dangerous jobs because they have to be done. Would any of us argue that supporting fire departments is wrong? Would there be a debate about naming a section of highway for fallen police officers who were just doing what the law required of them?
I have always been a pacifist, but when it comes down to it, the armed services are the only means we have of maintaining order in the world. Just as police are the only way to prevent lawlessness in our own communities. It's not pretty, but it is necessary.
If you feel that the war in Afghanistan is wrong, I'm in no position to argue with you. Showing the people who are being asked to fight it that we care, that is another story. Take the politics out of the debate over vehicle stickers. Remember the individuals that those decals represent.