The Price of War Revisited

The Price of War and Who Pays It?

Ed Note: This piece came in to VetSpeak by e-mail, and I believe that given the recent topical direction of the Obama & McCain campaigns, needs to be brought, once again, to the attention of the American voters, as an example of a real political consideration or priority, rather than the vote pandering spectacle that we have going on today and that is centered on media hype and race. It is my belief that where the candidates stand on the topic of the below piece, by Randy Ludacer, would be much more instructive than what the media is feeding us now. WH

What a filthy, disgusting business is war; always in the final analysis, the product of competing ideologies, its result is the slaughter of the innocents, the butchery of its young men, very young men, who rarely fully grasp an understanding of the dogmas for whom their lives are forfeit. The war lovers are rarely men who have experienced war first hand. They thank you for your service and say they support the troops but they really mean they support the war. They support the prolongation of the war as if this somehow demonstrates their patriotism and justifies your sacrifice.

On days devoted to memorial people speak of the purpose, the nobility of sacrifice. Yet young soldiers are not in the business of sacrifice. They strive for survival as they are subjected to the sweat of fear, the stink of the blood, cordite and excrement of their slaughtered comrades, those cut to pieces by shrapnel and bullets, blown to bits by explosives. Their sacrifice comes from protecting one another, taking risks for their comrades, not in the service of a noble cause. Their young lives are taken from them without their consent to being sacrificed, their dreams and promise being snuffed out by newer and more deadly technologies as mankind supposedly achieves progress.

On these occasions sanctimonious politicians applaud their service ...mouth platitudes and decorate the graves with flowers and flags,never having witnessed the mindless ugliness of their passing, never having shared their sense of loss and the blind hopelessness of the business of slaughter. The most soaring rhetoric comes from those who have not seen lines of body bags being loaded into helicopters or blood flowing from comrades newly created stumps, their severed limbs lying in the mud. They have never witnessed a wounded man dying in mid sentence as he bled out.

The survivors with shattered bodies are persuaded as to the necessity and nobility of their crippling and are expected to feel grateful for their prosthetics and penurious pensions and grudgingly granted education benefits and under staffed VA clinics.

And somehow, after the killing and crippling of our children there is ultimately a reconciliation, a forgiveness, as if our competing ideologies were not irreconcilable, that after all in the spirit of compromise and humanity we can sort out the differences and agree to get along at least until the next righteous crusade or jihad takes shape. Until then business as usual.

In the meanwhile, we glorify the dead for their noble sacrifice and marginalize the survivors with their shattered bodies, nightmares and damaged futures.

Such is the nobility of war !

Randy Ludacer
Lake Placid FL

www.VetSpeak.org

Obama & McCain

Campaign '08:

Who's "swiftboating" Who?

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This entry was my response to an e-mail from a friend that I call Bobby. He received it and commented on it, then forwarded it along to me via a list-serve. It related directly to a piece posted here at VetSpeak Blog on 6/16, which had also emanated from a list-serve mailing...different list, same theme; seemed worth adding my two cents, and sharing here for your consideration and comment. WH

My response to Bobby, et al:

Bobby,

NOTE: This is not a pro or con that favors either candidate type of response. Personally, I don't really "trust" either Obama, or McCain, and I sure don't trust the Democratic or the Republican party and their unaccountable 527s, political operatives, and rhetorical lackeys...however, I sure ain't throwing my hard-fought-for vote away on Ron Paul or Ralph Nader. My response is intended as a pro respectful and civil American political values and debate type response, as far as I am concerned. And, I hope that it is the issues that bode the best for America's future, as perceived by the majority of the American electorate, regardless of their party affiliation, and not the spin of political hacks, which will prevail in the upcoming election.

I'm not sure about how I personally feel about either of these guys, but I don't question either of theirs' patriotism, or personal character...only their political agendas as presidential candidates...and I have serious questions regarding them both as such, at this point in the campaign cycle. I take serious issue with your statement that we should "...stand firm and not back down to right-wing whining that Clark is Swiftboating McCain. Frankly, I personally did not see nor listen to what General Clark said on Face the Nation, that I will check into. Suffice it to say, that I (myself) personally am not beyond swiftboating if it means winning - THAT'S THE AMERICAN WAY TO WIN AT ALL COSTS!..."

It ain't just right wing whinin', Bobby; I refer you to this recent VetSpeak Blogsite posting, entitled Re: From Glory Boy to POW Songbird. It was in response to an article posted at Counterpunch.org and was forwarded to me on a list-serve. The Counterpunch's poorly documented, not-so-swift-vet (Swift Boat Vets, et al) 527 like piece, disrespectfully, and without credible evidence, implies that McCain was a "collaborator" with the enemy in Vietnam, while he was a POW. A Presidential candidate's patriotism and military service in Vietnam under fire, by wing-nuts from the political extreme Right...remind you of anyone?

As to Clark placing his foot square in his mouth, rhetorically speaking; I guess you hadda see it and hear it (as you state that you didn't), to really register the offensiveness of it. It might have tempered your argument, if you had. I did see it and hear it...and from my perspective, it was a disgraceful statement to come from a retired general officer, regarding the service of a brother officer. Even Bob Schieffer, the host of the show, who is a well respected and credible journalist, and who ain't no lackey of either the Right or the Left, was audibly and visibly taken back by it, as Clark spoke these disgraceful and disrespectful words on Schieffer's Sunday morning news show, Face The Nation.

To Obama's credit, he has disavowed Clark's inane analysis; http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20080630/McCain.Clark/. Now, that, in my opinion, was an honorable act, unlike the delivery and nature of the comments by Clark, that spawned it in the first place.

By way of keeping an eye on the ball; I would remind you that McCain has been a primary target of the Swift Boats (not-so-swift-vets) and their clones ever since he served on the POW/MIA Senate Committee regarding POWs with John Kerry. He became a target because their positions on the volatile issue were compatible, reaching across party lines to resolve this then contentious national issue. An issue that lingered long after the end of American involvement in Vietnam.

Out in the blog-o-sphere, Joe Lieberman has been mentioned as being on the Gathering of Eagles' (Swift Boat clone group) Board of Directors. In the real world, Bush himself has actually signed on with Rolling Thunder (also a swiftie clone group). I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find some similar connections to the not-so-swift-vets as it applies to Clark. But, that's just me. I don't care who you support...Obama or McCain...it's your choice to make; but, one's personal participation in the process should never be at the expense of someone else's personal honor, as a result of political spin and innuendo, rather than on facts, on behalf of any candidate or ideal, from any party.

Personally, I think that Clark owes not only John McCain an apology, but the rest of us voters one, as well; for insulting our intelligence, and in such a condescending manner! This is a position that even the otherwise intellectually and politically unfathomable Obama agrees with, according to today's internet news. I hope that you will reconsider your position on this, Bobby. It has clouded my eyes to your usually spot-on pragmatism and objectivity on these matters.

Lastly, I was knocked over by your statement that you weren't "... personally ...beyond swiftboating if it means winning - THAT'S THE AMERICAN WAY TO WIN AT ALL COSTS! ..." I am disappointed at this new political turn that your writings seem to have taken, since in the past you have openly supported Constitutionally framed democratic principles, and have recently stated your support for Obama, who apparently has resoundingly rejected Clark's perspective. I can't imagine Obama appreciating this kind of "help" in his quest, considering that he is campaigning as THE candidate of CHANGE. And, to me, this swiftboating kind of rhetoric is simply the same ol' s*** warmed over from the last presidential election...maybe even by the some of the same cooks.

I am hoping that Obama's kind of change is the kind of change that truly embraces the unity of thinking and values of the American people, and not the divisiveness inherent in political operatives and handlers. Demonstrating thereby to the American people, that his campaign is not just some more of the not-so-swift-s*** of the last presidential campaign, when the not-so-swift-vets (they were ultimately fined $300,000 by the FEC for illegal campaign practices) distracted the American People from the real issues, by rhetorically and politically assassinating John Kerry.

This is not all about either McCain, or Obama; it is about Truth and the Constitution...and Honor.

Personally, I don't give a rat's ass for Clark, or for most general and field grade officers, for that matter...but I do respect his service to his country, even as strongly as we disagree politically. Too bad he can't do the same for his fellow officers; whether they be Sailors, Marines, Soldiers, or Airmen, so long as they have actively engaged in battle with our country's enemies.


Semper Fi...

Willie Hager
www.VetSpeak.org

July 4th Reflections...

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Ed. Note: This came in via the VVAW Contact net, of which I am privileged to be a part. I thought it was worth sharing with everyone for America's Birthday. Some food for our minds and our souls, to accompany the BBQ and hot dogs, and the flags and fireworks. WH

On this July 4th, the celebration of our independence, it is important to reread the 1776 Declaration, and note that many of the listed abuses exist today. We should use July 4th to renew our heritage and declare our independence from greed, corruption and deceit of politicians, corporations and financial institutions. These groups have conspired to institute laws and practices that are contrary to our unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Democracy is much more than voting. Democracy requires action. Like our founding fathers, we must actively speak out and defend the rights that have been endowed upon us by our Creator. We are not pawns and slaves. We are a free and independent people and we must work to remain so. To do otherwise is to invite domination and the abuse of power. Democracy is a verb.

Arnold Stieber
VVAW Michigan Contact

http://www.vetspeak.org/

Re: From Glory Boy to PW Songbird

Crackerx

CrackerSwamp, Fl - The following is a response that I made to an e-mail that I received through a contact list that I am proud to be a part of. The article is entitled, John McCain: War Hero or North Vietnam's Go-To Collaborator? It was written by Douglas Valentine, and was first published on Counterpunch, on 13/06/08.

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I think that it is worth sharing with you here for your consideration, and perhaps even some further discussion and comment as we move on into the election season. Before the spin machines crank up full force, for the purpose of distracting the electorate about what is really at stake in all of this, in what is being hailed as an "Historical" election.

The spin will be coming from 527s representing, but unaccountable to, both sides of the political spectrum...words have power, but they don't always speak Truth. Vigilance, my Brothers and Sisters! We must never forget the hard lessons learned from the Swift Boat 527 attacks on John Kerry during his presidential campaign, and we must be wary of the message and the messenger when they employ and further these sorts of unprincipled tactics for the supposed purpose of winning hearts and minds. Willie Hager

Mr. Valentines piece:

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http://www.counterpunch.org/valentine06132008.html

My thoughts and response on the topic:

I, and I am sure, the author of this piece, have no hard evidence of John McCain having ever been a collaborator. And without evidence, it is a dishonorable and unethical act to make such allegations against an American fighting man. Even if he is running for president on the Republican ticket, and disagrees with you on the issues. He is an American Combat Veteran, same as those found in VVAW and IVAW and Vets For Peace. The ones who oppose our involvement in Iraq. He simply disagrees with our position. I have never heard or read his words assassinating another Veteran's service, nor have I ever heard of him making disparaging slurs about anyone's character, regardless of their party affiliation, or service to country, as he goes about this business.

While I may disagree with Senator McCain on his foreign policy assessments and his choice of political party; as a Combat Veteran, I still respect his service to his country. I don't believe that the fact that he was a US Naval pilot, or "Glory Boy" as this author describes him, diminishes that service. In fact having had a father who was a US Naval aviator during WWII, I personally resent this author's representations of their service in such a demeaning manner. My father went down in a Martin P4M Reconnaissance Bomber flying US intelligence missions in the Mediterranean a few years after WWII. In reading of the events surrounding his loss, I don't find it, or his service and ultimate contribution to his country, any less heroic or any less painful than those of comrades who fell mortally wounded in the jungle combat that I was a part of on the ground as a young Marine in Vietnam. Especially to his family.

Mr. Valentine's description of his dad and his buddies shooting at US Aviators while in New Guinea in 1942, the year I was born, is a disappointing and undocumented report of a what I consider to be a for real war crime, if true. Although it is based on heresy evidence, I am tempted to press for an investigation of these allegations, inasmuch as Mr Valentine's dad may have well been shooting at my dad and others who flew close air support missions for the troops on the ground there in New Guinea while in the service of their country. Did they hit and kill anyone? Can anyone truly say?

As a Combat Marine, I was always very happy to see close air support and unflinchingly fearless medivac missions flown by what Valentine calls "Glory Boys", especially when I was actively engaged with the enemy in Vietnam. Sadly, I personally saw too many of these so-called "Glory Boys" fly into overwhelming enemy fire and go down in flames, resulting in the deaths of entire crews while attempting to extract our wounded and get them safely back to the field hospitals in the rear....during my two tours they saved thousands of lives, and in so doing; many of them fearlessly sacrificed their lives for their Brothers on the ground. Many became POWs. The notion that it is less honorable to fall from the sky all shot to hell, wounded and trapped in a burning aircraft, rather than to die from wounds face down in the jungle mud, is a very sick proposition.

Somehow this seemingly twisted individual believes that American Soldiers shooting at American aircraft during combat operations is somehow not a war crime, and was a heroic act. He seems to believe that presidential candidate John McCain is a war criminal, resulting from his long, and well documented torture as a prisoner of war at the infamous Hanoi Hilton, but that his own dad is a political hero. This is an example the kind of spin that we have all come to call "swiftboating", whether it comes from the lunatic fringe of the neocon far Right, or the dielectic dribble and political correctness of the extreme Left.

As to the presidential election; I don't care who you personally choose to vote for, Obama or McCain...I have fought this country's enemies (external and internal) in order to preserve your right to freely choose, and to voice your beliefs without fear of reprisal, and vote your concsience. I don't care who's "side" you are on; I am on the side of America, and whatever is determined by the majority of the American electorate, regardless of their ethnicity, sex, or political party. It is my constitutional mandate, as an American citizen, to uphold it, or to work with-in a constitutional framework to change it. I only ask in return that all of you reject this swiftboating of the candidates, and make your choices based on the Truth of relevant issues and documented facts, and not on spin, offered by either side of the political spectrum, such as that contained in Mr Valentine's disappointing piece.

I suspect that from the mention of Col Hopper and the National League of Families (a decidedly far right organization) which is coelesced with the Swift Boat clone groups and the Rolling Thunder (Bush just joined their organization) motorcycle rally, that Mr Valentine is an active Right wing spin-miester. I know Col Hopper, Rolling Thunder, and the League. This working knowledge comes from my days of interacting with them in my duties as President of the Vietnam Veterans of Florida, State Coalition , back in the late eighties and early nineties, regarding this then hot button issue; and I can personally assure you that they are definitely extreme Right POW/MIA organizations and individuals.

Col Hopper and Ted Sampley, among others in the leadership of the so-called POW/MIA Movement, are the founts for the Libertarian talk radio shows' conspiracy rhetoric on this topic. They have been in the Swift Boat camp regarding John McCain and John Kerry ever since the late eighties and early nineties, when they were at odds with both of the Senators, http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan07/ker_keating.htm, who then co-chaired the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, from August 2, 1991 thru January 2, 1993, and who obviously rejected the political agenda of these individuals and groups. McCain has been targeted by these individuals and groups, along with John Kerry and VVAW, ever since then.

Taking all of this into context, and in association with other recent events of this nature (character assasination for political purposes or personal gain), I thought that it would be appropriate to also share with y'all this piece by VetSpeak.org's own Calixto Cabrera. It was originally posted on the VetSpeak Blog on 02/21/06. It is a powerful piece, entitled Veterans Fighting Veterans. It asks that we remember who we are, where we came from, and who was with us; rather than to judge others who shared the experience with us, based only on rhetoric or political spin...especially from someone who wasn't.

Whoever you choose to vote for, let it be for all the right reasons and based on the pragmatic and documented Truths, rather than the rhetorical or politically correct ones, which are being bandied about by political lackeys and clones on both sides. That way, hopefully, we won't be fooled, again...and wind up with a new boss same as the old boss.

Semper Fi!

Willie Hager

www.VetSpeak.org

Winter Soldier on The Hill

This just in...

IVAW Updates

IVAW member Matthis Chiroux announces his refusal to deploy to Iraq

Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, who served in the Army until being honorably discharged last summer after over four years of service in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Phillipines, today publicly announced his intention to refuse orders to deploy to Iraq.

Sgt. Chiroux made his announcement in the Cannon House Office Building Rotunda after members of Iraq Veterans Against the War testified before the Congressional Progressive Caucus during Winter Soldier on the Hill.

Outgoing...

What is written below is a re-write of a blog response that I made a couple of days ago, in response to the above news.

There is no doubt that it took courage of conviction for Matthis Chiroux to have made this declaration right there in the halls of Congress. I support his convictions, and respect his courage.

However, I question the judgement in the choice of time and venue to air his decision to refuse re-deployment to Iraq. An act for which he could by legal definition be charged with desertion in the face of the enemy. To announce this at this incredibly important venue for Winter Soldier was rhetorically flammatory, and just what IVAW didn't need imagewise, in my personal opinion.

The resultant media focus on this public airing of Chiroux's moral stand and ensuing military legal entanglements will sadly overshadow the initial purpose of the hearings, where, unfortunately, he chose to make his personal moral stand.

He will have become bigger than the original story; the testimony of all the others who were there that day, will have been overshadowed by media sensationalism, and right-wing swiftboating of the Winter Soldier hearing concept, and testifiers. This act will re-energize the administrations spin miesters, and Republican 527 funded political operatives and organizations, i.e., our old friends, the gathering of Eagles. Rather than leaving the Hill still on offense, IVAW will, I believe, find themselves on defense with shaky field position. It was a "gimme" for the Neocons.

These were hearings that Iraq veterans Against The War had worked diligently to bring about, following the US Media black-out on the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan hearings this past March 13-16th at the National Labor College in Silver Springs, Maryland. Now, the powerful testimony stands to be overshadowed by this tactical faupaux.

These hearings were to demonstrate that the gathering in Silver Springs was not just a few disgruntled soldiers, but was in fact Truth, from a Boots On The Ground perspective, as told by soldiers who served honorably in combat in their country's name, to those with the power to act on those Truths.

Winter Soldier On The Hill! Right where it belonged, in the first damn place! Winter Soldiers Speaking Truth To Power. Heroes coming from the shadows to share their experiences with the American People, baring their souls before Congress for all to see. All of this in the hopes of winning hearts and minds to the Truth of our involvement in iraq...what a story!!!

But wait, there's been a distraction, folks. Someone thought that one person's message was more important than the message of all of the other Winter Soldiers present on the Hill, that day. This can't help but make our hill a little steeper, the pack a little heavier.

This was the poison pill of the anti-war movement back in the seventies, and it has the potential to be that way again, if we allow it. No one individual's plight can be considered bigger than the mission, if we are to succeed in bringing objective Truth to the American People, and win middle America's hearts and minds.

I hope that IVAW learned from this one.

Semper Fi!
Willie H

www.VetSpeak.org