Scoring Defeatists
There’s quite a hubub going on over at Blackfive. It’s interesting to note how the arguments presented seem to miss the point entirely. What’s the number one issue with regard to the Iraq war? The choice seems to be the same one every nation has with every war they fight. Should we win or loose?
The controversy seems to surround a list compiled by the IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America). The list is a grade ranking of Senators on their support for the troops via their votes regarding the war and veterans affairs. It’s very interesting. There is a big brouhaha building over the fact that some veterans, myself included, take umbrage of the way the list reads.
The IAVA is supposedly a non-partisan group, not withstanding the fact that one of it’s founders, Phil Carter, is also the Veterans Director of Obama for America. Isn’t that special? Check out the hubbub here:
Blackfive, and again here, This Ain’t Hell, and Milblogs has the actual listing and some insight here. Just be sure you recognize the sarcasm for what it is. Go check that stuff out then answer one simple question that I think will clear all this up: If there were a vote today in the Senate on bringing the troops home “as soon as possible,” and the criteria for the list was a yes vote gets an A and a no vote gets an F, what would that list look like?
There are two things to consider here: First, anyone can make something as overly complicated as the voting process in the Senate look like anything they want. You can take any Senators votes and make them look like he voted no on something he actually voted yes on. Happens all the time. So the list is meaningless unless you account for all the wrangling with fat, pork, and socialism that a lot of guys who support the troops would vote against as a matter of course.
The second thing is more despicable, and goes to the heart of the matter. It has to do with the question I asked earlier. Take a close look at that list. Who are the Senators who talk about bringing the troops home regardless of the disposition of the war visa vi victory or defeat, and who is talking about bringing them home with victory and honor. If you put the former at the top of your list, and the latter at the bottom you’ll end up with pretty much the same list.
The IAVA obviously believe that the best way to support the troops is to make them loose the war by bringing them home as soon as possible without any regard to the consequences. It’s a despicable and dishonorable position to take, and I condemn them for it. The lot of them should be ashamed of themselves for doing such a disgusting thing. Any veteran, or anyone for that matter, with any honor at all should, in a time of war, either stand for victory, or sit down and shut the fuck up. Just because you have the right to dishonor yourself, doesn’t mean you should run right out and do.
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