Unlike most of the candidates in the running for presidential election in 2008, Barack Obama has been opposed to the War in Iraq since before it began. Obama said at an Anti-War Rally in Chicago in 2002 “I don't oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war”. And now Barack has made his plan to end the war a part of his campaign. His ideas for ending the war coincide well with my definition of what being “anti-war” means to me. While Hillary Clinton’s ideas coincide best with my definition of “pro-troops”, she has not explicitly stated where she stands on the war. In this article, Obama spoke out against Rudy Guiliani’s (R) “politics of fear” while in the same article, Clinton was cited as saying that this war “shouldn’t be a Democratic fight or a Republican fight”. In fact this article made it seem as if Giuliani was acting in one of the problematic manners I mentioned before; by making grand generalizations about the Democratic party. Propagation of such behavior is only detrimental to the process of defining the “anti-war, pro-troops” standpoint.

Since this is the last entry, I suppose I should end this with the obligatory conclusion. A statement such as “I do not support this war, but I support our troops” is not at all self explanatory and the purpose of this blog was to come to understand the conflict that results from the lack of definition and explanation surrounding the “anti-war/pro-troops” viewpoint. I do not think I really achieved what I originally set out to do with this blog, but I think I brought up some pretty relevant points that hopefully could spark some discussion. Defining the “anti-war, pro-troops” viewpoint has proven to be an impossible task, but I hope that I have illuminated my own personal definition of what it means to me. It would be great to hear from other people about what their thoughts and viewpoints are. Perhaps this will lead to further exploration of your own personal views on this war. Or not. And for that I would not blame you, as this blog is very amateurish. At this point all I can say is I hope this blog served some purpose outside of it being my final for my class.