Why are less than 1 in 300 of you in Iraq right now? An open letter to all Bush voters.

[Bjorn Against]

Dear Republicans,

Over the past few years we have heard you ramble on and on about how you support the troops. Well it is time for you all to realize that supporting the troops means more than simply putting a yellow ribbon on the back of your SUV.

You see there are many troops over in Iraq right now who would like to be able to come home and be with their families, if you truly supported the troops it seems you would be willing to enlist right now so that your dear leader George Bush would not need to extend their tours any longer.

The problem is of course that none of you are enlisting, the military has had a tough time reaching their recruitting goals in recent years and it doesn't make any sense because all of you Bush voters kept telling us just how much you supported this war.

Let us look at the numbers, Bush received about 62 million votes in the last election. Yes, some of those votes were Diebold votes so we will be fair and round that down to 60 million. The number of people currently serving in Iraq if we include both the members of our armed forces and those hired by Blackwater is approximately 200,000. That means that for every one person serving in Iraq, there are 300 of you who voted to keep this war going.

Now it is true that there are a good number of people who have served in Iraq but who's obligations have ended, and there are others who are home at the moment but are scheduled to be shipped back. Then of course there are the thousands who have been either killed or seriously wounded and unable to return. It is also true however that not everyone who is serving in Iraq is a Bush supporter, many of them signed up because of promises that the military would give them new opportunities by paying for their college and providing other benefits. Many of them did not intend to get involved in this war.

Many of you happen to be supporters of the NRA, you are always telling us about your love for guns and it seems you have already taught yourselves many of the skills necessary to take up a role in frontline infantry. So why aren't you signing up?

If you really support the troops like you all say you do then I want to know how you are supporting them. Providing support does not mean ordering them to stay until their mission is complete without even telling them what the mission is exactly. Supporting the troops means allowing the ones who want to come home and be with their families to have that opportunity. So if you want to support the troops then you better either call for an end to this war or go down and enlist right now.

You all say you support the troops, but it is clear by looking at the numbers that for every one of you who is willing to practice what they preach and go fight there are hundreds of you who simply will not fight in the very war you refuse to let others come home from.

Sincerely,
A man who wants to support the troops by bringing them home