Lynn C. Woolsey: “What does it mean to support America's troops? Does it mean placing a yellow ribbon on the bumper of your car? Does it…”

“What does it mean to support America's troops? Does it mean placing a yellow ribbon on the bumper of your car? Does it mean blindly supporting the wars in which they fight? Or does it mean something else entirely? I believe that supporting our Nation's brave soldiers means honoring, above all else, the promise to never place them in harm's way unless the safety and security of our Nation depends on it. It also means that we properly equip them in battle and then fully care for them once they are home. Sadly, the war in Iraq has violated all three of the ways that we must support our troops. The very premise of this war violates the trust that our military places in the government. It actually violates the trusts that we will only vote to go to war under circumstances of dire national emergency when our fate as a Nation depends on it. The war in Iraq was never about a national emergency or America's security. It was about the Bush administration's callous manipulation of the 9/11 tragedy.”