No visible support

I'll give columnist Joel Stein credit for one thing -- at least he's not full of crap.

Joel states definitively in the L.A. Times that he not only opposes the war but he does not support the troops. He somewhat backpedals, saying he respects the guys in uniform, and that perhaps they were duped into fighting in Iraq, but nonetheless he doesn't support them and holds them accountable for what they're doing.

And I think, "finally, an antiwar guy who can admit that he doesn't REALLY support the troops."

I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's an extremely fine line to walk. And from a moral standpoint it becomes very complex very fast. It is very, very difficult to say that the war is immoral but that they guys pulling the triggers are the good guys and aren't responsible in some way.

We didn't accept that answer from the German citizenry when after World War II they said they didn't really know that Hitler was trying to murder all the Jews.

For my part, I believe most of those who oppose the war but say they support the troops don't really mean it -- they just don't want to be seen as the ones spitting on the returning troops, like their forefathers did during the Vietnam conflict.