As a veteran, I find the little magnetic “Support the Troops” ribbons on people’s cars to be quite sick. There is only one way to support the troops, and that is to stop sending them off to battle in foreign lands by leaders who are culturally ignorant and cowardly chickenhawks themselves.

Then I hear the sick argument of: “If we leave now, those that have died will have died in vain.” I hate to tell you, but those who have died, died in vain, regardless of whether anyone else dies after them.

Another sick argument is: “We have to support the troops to keep their morale up.” There is only one thing you can do to support the morale of the troops, and that is to bring them home. Anything else is so momentary as to be meaningless. If you are under fire and getting your backside shot off, the only thing that will help your morale is to know that you will be going home, hopefully alive and soon.

All those ribbons are just another form of capitalism – profiteering off of the war. Think Halliburton.

Richard Fochtmann, Leeds