StarTrib Op-ed

Micheal Honeycutt, a Vets for Freedom member I met last week in DC, scored a nice commentary piece in the StarTrib today.

Contrary to the charges of those who barred us from the Forest Lake High School, Mike sums up our mission-
We did not do this because we are Republicans or Democrats. We don't believe that wanting America to win in Iraq and defeat the forces of radicalism is a partisan goal. It is an American goal, and we support any politician, Republican Democrat or independent, who shares that one belief.

I've heard accusations that Vets for Freedom is just a neocon front group, bought and paid for by Bush/Cheney. Though I'd bet that some of our contributers are Republicans, if they are trying to buy us then they are getting hosed. There were no talking points given out on the DC trip. No one telling us what to say or how to say it.

That's why Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Rep. Jim Marshall, a Democrat, were on the stage (at the VFF rally at the Capitol) with Sen. John McCain, a Republican. Whatever the situation was in 2003. Whether or not going into Iraq was the right thing to do in the first place. It doesn't matter. That is a debate for history. It's 2008 now, and we have to make decisions based on the reality we have, not the reality we would prefer.

Mike sums up the lesson that most of my generation took from Vietnam-
This generation of American soldiers saw what happened in Southeast Asia, and we do not want a repeat of the Killing Fields, this time as Sunnis are massacred by Iranian-backed militias. We do not want an Iraqi version of the Vietnamese boat people. Never again do we want to see our allies forced from their homeland because America abandoned them. America has a choice. We do not have to let history repeat itself. This is why I went to Washington last week, and why I am a member of Vets For Freedom.

Check out Mike's blog at Nine-Sixteenths