Soldiering on for Wesley Clark

A short article from New York Magazine about some of the real heros of the mid-terms. Let's hope the DNC and other Dems can learn a lesson about playing offense instead of defense and not being afraid to hit hard.

Swift-Boat Revenge
How one New Yorker beat Republicans at the attack-ad game. by Geoffrey Gray

(Photo: Todd Selby)

They weren’t as famous as the stem-cell ads with Michael J. Fox, but the anti-Republican spots created by Jon Soltz (who served in Iraq as a captain in the Army), and his New York–based group VoteVets.org, also seemed to have hit their targets.

What's the big hurry?

Why was Saddam Hussein executed so quickly?

Let's see... here was a guy who murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people, who started two wars, one with Iran and one with Kuwait, resulting in the deaths of many hundreds of thousands more (to include at least 148 Americans and maybe more thanks to Gulf War Syndrome), and who provided support and encouragement to Palestinian terrorists responsible for the deaths of.hundreds of Israelis, most frequently targeting children, the elderly, the working poor.

Wouldn't you think it might be worth making him testify publicly about ALL of those crimes? Wouldn't you think ALL of the victims might deserve a day in court? Don't you suppose that those still loyal to Saddam could stand to hear a little more about why so many Iraqis, other Arabs, and people around the world are glad to see him dead?

My dear friend Gordon Suber writes this insightful analysis of how the battlelines are being drawn over escalation in Iraq:

2007: It’s Clark versus McCain By Gordon Suber January 9, 2007

President George W. Bush will tell the American people why it is necessary to escalate the Iraq war, adding 20,000 American troops.

Writing in the Washington Post last Sunday, former presidential candidate (2000), Senator John McCain wrote that a small, short surge is a terrible idea. He advocates a larger number, for a longer period.

Writing in the Washington Post last Monday, former presidential candidate (2004) and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Wesley K. Clark set forth why he believes a surge in troops in Baghdad is a terrible idea. He advocates diplomacy.

None of us knows who will be battling for the presidency in 2008, but what I know now is that when it comes to finding a solution in Iraq in 2007, it's Clark versus McCain.

Last weekend, the Democratic National Committee held its annual Winter Meeting and, as frequently happens in election years (even tho 2007 is not technically not), it included a "cattle call" of all the presidential candidates for 2008, to include, as party chairman Dean called him, the imminent candidate General Wesley Clark.

One by one, the presidential wannabes took the podium, in randomly assigned order, and extolled the audience as to why Democrats should nominate them to the highest office in the land (and a house worth I dare say more than even John Edwards').

But only one seized upon the platform as an opportunity to once again remind Democrats, as well as an expected TV audience (pre-empted by tornadoes in Florida), of those the aspirants would seek to lead, when he began the meat of his speech with:

But before I say anything else, I want you to take just a moment and reflect quietly, on the sacrifices that are being made by our troops in uniform and their families. [moment of silence]

You could have heard a pin drop in that room.

Iraq War veteran Jon Soltz introduced General Wes Clark last night at a New York City forum sponsored by Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century. The two of them have worked closely together on many projects, the most recent being an effort to stop a war with Iran before it starts.

But what struck me most in the former Captain Soltz' introduction, as reported by Bouldin at his Daily Gotham blog, was the description of this event:

[When Jon] came back from Iraq, he was approached by a veteran of World War II, asking to shake his hand. This veteran of an earlier war had in turn once shaken the hand of a veteran of the Civil War; and that man long before had once, when very young, shaken the hand of a man who had taken part in the American Revolution. That's an unbroken chain of patriots who fought for everything this country holds dear, going back to the founding. It is precisely this tradition of honorable service that is today being dragged through the mud by the cabal of draft-dodgers in the White House.

"An unbroken chain of patriots... dragged through the mud by a cabal of draft-dodgers. "

That's exactly right.

When John McCain wants to find out how things are going over in Iraq, he flies over in a military aircraft on the taxpayers' dime, walks around the Green Zone with a maximum of US military protection, also on the taxpayers' dime, and talks to soldiers and marines hand-picked by the chain of command to answer his questions. One wonders what he expects to hear, and whether it isn't something like what he wants to hear, but I guess it's hard to fault him for not knowing any real GIs up close and personal.

Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy, on the other hand, can talk to the very real soldiers he served with in Iraq, some of whom are still there. According to an op/ed by Francis Clines in last Sunday's New York Times, one of those soldiers is Sergeant Juan Santiago of the 82nd Airborne. Hooah SGT Santiago.

Once more mega-kudos are in order to VoteVets, one of the few veterans organizations that puts the welfare of the troops ahead of partisan politics.

Jon Soltz -- Iraq War Veteran, Co-Founder and Chairman of VoteVets -- writes:

The first in the series of three ads features VoteVets.org Advisory Board Member, Major General (ret.) John Batiste, who was commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division from August 2002-June 2005. During this time frame, he conducted combat operations in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Batiste twice voted for President Bush and is a lifelong Republican. If you like this ad, then you're going to love what we have coming up in about a week, from Major General Paul Eaton. And, then the ad featuring General Clark after that. That's fitting, because it is General Clark who paved the way for other retired brass to speak out.

Now watch the video....

On Monday, our nation will observe Memorial Day -- a day which is incredibly solemn and sacred, especially to those of us who served our nation with military service.

For one day, WesPAC and our friends at VoteVets.org and the National Security Network will put politics completely aside, and stand in solidarity with the rest of our nation to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the United States. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or of another party or no party at all, we are all still Americans, and on this day, we should solely be focused on honoring those who died in service. We're also asking that people not protest at Memorial Day events; we have 364 other days to argue policy and politics, but this day belongs to the fallen and their memories.

Today, please consider making a donation to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (http://www.fallenheroesfund.org), which is dedicated to helping the families of those who died in service. The Intrepid Fund has already provided $60 million in aid to families, but can only continue to do so with your support.

Above all, take a day to learn more about someone who died in defense of America. If you're at a parade or prayer service and you see a veteran or military family member, ask him or her who they are honoring. Learn more about that hero, so their memory can endure. Too often, we talk about the fallen in terms of numbers. We forget, each of those numbers were real people, with real lives, and real families. The names on the thousands of memorials across America are more than letters etched in stone -- they are lives lost with honor. The best way we can honor those who sacrificed their lives is to ensure that the memory of who they were as human beings is never forgotten. Please, on Memorial Day, do your part to ensure their memory lives on.

Thank you for your support of our troops and veterans.

Sincerely,

Wes Clark
Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran, VoteVets.org
Rand Beers, USMC (ret.), National Security Network

After you read the editorial that follows, please join General Clark's campaign to remove Rush from the Armed Forces Radio Network, where our tax dollars provide him unfettered access to a captive audience of soldiers and sailors stationed overseas.

Limbaugh’s Cowardly Smear

by Joe Conason
Published on October 2, 2007, in the October 8, 2007, edition of The New York Observer

The controversy over what Rush Limbaugh meant when he uttered the phrase “phony soldiers” last week isn’t just another broadcast sideshow. As the political power of conservatism declines, the symbolic authority of figures such as Mr. Limbaugh is likewise shrinking. That is why he backs away from his own words, rips them from context by selectively editing his program’s transcript and insists he didn’t demean soldiers and veterans who dissent from the Bush White House war policy—as he and his fellow partisans have done so many times before.