"Support our Troops, Not the Protesters" reads a bumper sticker that has shown up since the war. For years some have promoted the idea that we should show support for our troops, wherever they are deployed.

There's much in that attitude which I can support. When youth are sent to a conflict at the whim of a priviliged group of men of another generation, I can't see much reason for condeming them personally.

My protests have been against the actions of our president -- never as a lack of support for our "troops." I can only feel sympathy for the troops, swept into the conflict as young people often are, knowing little of the conspiracies of older men which led up to armed conflict. Of course I "support" them, to the extent that they are performing as they were trained to do, honorably, for as much as that can be defined.

We protest the way these people are being used, not the actions of the troops themselves.

Is it conceivable that our nation can use the services of these men toward dishonorable goals? Honorable though the work of our troops may be, they are sometimes applied to causes that are wrong. The current drive for empire is one such wrong cause.

The expression, "support our troops," has become, for some, a show of support for empire.

This patriot deception is used on us again and again, as a smokescreen to the aggression of our national leaders. The president orders an invasion. We protest the injustice of the action. How can you undermine our troops? the president's supporters say. Giving comfort to the "enemy". Yes, Mr. President, but, the invasion... Our troops are heroes. They've shown bravery and sacrifice...Ok. Heroes they may be, but, Mr. President, the civilian casualties...

It is becoming risky to take issue with the nation's actions without being seen as betraying the heroism of the troops themselves.