I support our troops. Believe when I say that I the deepest amount of respect for those who will willingly put their lives in danger for their country. They do deserve respect. But they also deserve something else, something the current Administration has been slow to admit.

When we send the selfless soldiers out in potentially lethally situations such as keeping the peace in Iraq, we have signed a contract. Not one of ink and paper, but an implied moral contract. We agree that we have carefully considered the risks and benefits of sending them abroad. We must have a clear and pressing reason for using military force. We must make sure our intelligence is correct, that is, we should carefully evaluate the veracity of each source. The current administration has failed to adequately do so.

Furthermore, the Administration has refused any acknowledgment of its own errors. We initially invaded the country to get the supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction, but when we could not find them, suddenly we had invaded Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein and bring the blessings of democracy to the poor Muslims. That the army would make a mistake concerning the presence of WMDs is one thing, that they would try and cover up their mistake by changing the issue is almost unforgivable.

The current Administration has refused to see issues in grayscale, preferring instead to label everyone as either against the terrorists, or with them. Besides the obvious insulting nature of characterizing someone like me as a supporter of terrorists, if anything, they have it backwards. I cannot understand how the Administration's have accomplished anything beyond increasing the anger among potential terrorists. The nation itself is no more secure than before.

I am sick of having my patriotism called into question by one who I feel has done little to bring respect to my country.

—Em "the Patriot" Ess