It is right to work in whatever way we can toward those goals, and one way is to voice support for those people from our home state who are engaged in the military.

City council resolution
The Gilbert City Council has the following item on the agenda for its Monday (April 7) meeting: "Discussion of request for local Government support of Iowa troops."

I suspect a city council can make a resolution giving support to those in the military; however, is that the role of a local governing body? In some ways such a resolution would be appropriate if worded wisely, in some ways such a resolution would not be appropriate.

A problem of linguistics
Too often — in recent news coverage, editorials, and popular conversation — the term "pro-troops" has become synonymous with "pro-war." The trend is also to make peace activists out to be "anti-troops" and unpatriotic.

The Gilbert population is not unlike the general American population. The residents here do hold a variety of complex views. If the Gilbert city council is to adopt a resolution regarding the war in  Iraq, it should be a simple one about the safety and well-being of the people serving in the military with the hope that they are able to return home as whole and healthy human beings.

For the council to say more in a resolution, unless the statement is thought through thoroughly and written well, it could be construed as taking a political stance. I doubt if Gilbert residents want their local government making such a statement for them.

Think it through and write it wisely
If the council decides it is important to adopt a resolution supporting our men and women in the military, I would support the action, but only in so far as the resolution addresses their well-being. I would not support a resolution that even hints that being "pro-troops" is the same as being "pro-war." In fact, I would encourage the council, if it does adopt such a resolution, to use its best linguistic skills and leave out the term "troops" because it has become such a hot button term. Sure the term is fine in personal conversation but not sufficiently articulate for a public resolution.

There are better ways than a simple slogan, full of innuendo, to say we worry about those men and women who are putting themselves in harms way in service to our country, wish them well, and thank them for their commitment.

There are better ways to acknowledge the grief that we experience in seeing photos or film footage of flag-draped coffins — carried by military escorts — and the tears or stoic faces of those people who are burying their loved ones who did not come home from war alive. It is not hard to imagine the buglers in cemeteries across the country playing "Taps" for those who died in the War on Iraq. The eerie sound affects all Americans whether we hear it or not and regardless of our posture toward the war.

Note: At its April 7, 2003, meeting the city council reviewed a proposed resolution titled Service Member Support Agenda. There seemed to be unanimous consent to approve the resolution. However, the city is required to post notice of the resolution before a vote. Therefore, the council has called a special meeting for April 10 to vote on the measure.