Ed...I have been thinking about what you are asking here and wondered about a couple of things. First, why do you feel the need to "support the troops"? It sounds like a guilt thing when it comes from someone so vehemently opposed to the mission and the commander in chief. It almost seems like you may feel that the soldiers are also opposed to their mission and their commander in chief and are being forced to serve both. Since all of them are volunteers I don't suspect many oppose their mission and I know most of them respect their commander in chief. I'm sure all of them would rather be home but understand what their job is.

A simple analogy would be likening this to a football game. The members of the team hate the game and despise their coach but play the game anyway. So you could support the players in their dilemma and still hate the coach and despise the game. If the football team was made up of players who loved the game and loved and respected their coach they would probably question your motives for "supporting" them.

Most of the soldiers in Iraq I have heard on the news being interviewed say that what they want most is to know that America is behind them all the way and their mission and when they say support they don't mean it the same way you might.

I saw the footage of President Bush's visit to Iraq and I also saw the footage of Hillary Clinton's visit to Iraq. There was a huge difference in the reception they both got from the soldiers. Hillary was "supporting the troops" but trashing the mission and the commander in chief . The president, on the other hand, was there letting everyone know that we are not going to cut and run and he was letting the soldiers know that it is because of them that America stays safe. I am quite confident that the soldiers welcomed the president's "support" much more than Hillary's.

So I guess the bottom line is this: Can you realistically support the troops and still belittle their mission and their commander in chief? I honestly don't believe you can. You can be polite and nice to an individual soldier with gifts or emails or whatever but include your anti-war, anti-Bush message as a footnote to your "support" and see what kind of reception your "support" gets.

I know you are an intelligent , level headed guy who I respect and like very much but we will continue to disagree on political issues I guess. If I could only convince you to move over to the Sharpton campaign!