A certain minority on this site supported the Iraq war authorization - Jeremy Corbyn did not.

[JackRiddler]

38. Sorry, didn't mean it that way.

Some of those statements were about Americans generally, others about Americans as reflected on DU. I should have been clearer.

So:

- I remember plenty on DU (a minority) supporting the war authorization or buying into the WMD nonsense (not the Saddam-did-9/11 nonsense). Supporting the vote if not the attack itself, because who knew if Saddam did not present an imminent threat, after all the CIA and Pentagon were saying so.

- Most on DU were against the whole way and remained against after it started.

- Opposition largely collapsed in U.S. after it started.

- The soldiers are the first resort in confusing the issue. As if the most important issue is that these people are going to be ordered to carry out a war of aggression and acts of mass murder. I sympathize most with the ones who, despite having volunteered for this for whatever reason, end up doing the right thing and resist, go to prison, desert, etc. I also feel sorry for the many who believe they must carry out their illegal orders because they took an oath, or because it's their country and they are "defending" it on orders from a legitimate government. They are well meaning and indeed the ones who pay a high price. It cannot be compared to the civilians being murdered in Iraq, however.

Again, the whole thing is mainly used as a distraction. Instead of talking policy, it's always, do you support our troops? The idea that by going to Iraq they are sacrificing for the population at large, or that they are "defending our freedoms," is preposterous. Utterly. They may think so, but they need to get over the big lie. To say that is not to "shit on them." Worshipping military service is part of the machinery that makes such crimes possible. The soldiers should be seen in proportion to the big picture.