What are we proving in the Iraq divide?

May 02, 2008
Peace thugs attack Iraq war veteran and his family -- video now ...
Last month, I wrote about a group of unhinged peace thugs who attacked an Iraq war veteran, his wife, and his fourteen-year-old son, the Swartout family. The video of the attack is now released.

Brace yourself. It's not easy viewing. The attack happens near the end, and you'll see four of the peace thugs jump onto Carrie Swartout, hitting and kicking her. She ultimately suffered a concussion from a kick to the head. You'll see the peace thugs are the ones who pushed the conflict, who escalated the tension, who resorted to physical violence. It's disturbing.

The leader of the unhinged peace thugs seems to be the girl in the white dress and boots -- keep an eye on her.
How is it that no arrests were made? This video makes it pretty clear that an assault had taken place.

This family did nothing to provoke this kind of attack. As they pointed out to the irate peace thugs over and over again, both groups were in a public place. The only unhinged and out-of-control people there were the peace thugs.

But as you can see from the report 4 people were charged.

Description: Edinboro police have charged four people for a fight at an April 22 peace rally. The fight started after an argument between war protesters and a family that supports the war effort in Iraq. This video was filmed by a member of the Tuesdays at Two group, which had gathered on Meadville Street in Edinboro at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22.
http://www.erietube.com/kickapps/_Peace-rally-fight/video/198337/3766.html

But this is what can be accomplished when people really do care.

Description: On May 1, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania sponsored The Moving Wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C., which has been touring the country for more than twenty years honoring Vietnam veterans. Volunteers from the Edinboro area and from the Patriot Guard motorcycle group helped assemble the wall in less than 4 hours.
http://www.goerie.com/videos

How can anyone say they want peace yet do such a violent thing? Is it anger that drives them over the edge or frustration? What does violence show? It shows that seeking peace is not as important as a political motivation.

I make it very clear where I stand on this issue but I have friends on both sides. Nothing is accomplished by anger directed at the other side no matter which side you are on. We all need to remember that both sides base their passion out of care and concern for the men and women serving in the military. They just approach it from different sides. Most of the country has been disinterested in what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least these people care enough to either support the occupation of Iraq or fight to end it. None of them are really paying any attention to Afghanistan. No one protests against it or rally's to support it. It's almost as if it didn't exist.

When some members of Gathering of Eagles attacked a Gold Star Father who was in a protest march, I was outraged and posted about it. I am just as outraged now with this video being the other way around. Have we lost all respect for each other? When it comes to being angry with the President and his administration, that is understandable. When it comes to being angry with the Congress, that is also understandable. They are after all the ones in charge of what happened and what is happening. When it comes to being so angry at our own countrymen that physically attacking each other follows, no one should accept any of it.

The person who posted the link to this video asked a question as to why there were no arrests made. That's a good question but the person must not have read the description on the site where the video came from.

Edinboro police have charged four people for a fight at an April 22 peace rally.

I would like to know what the people involved with this thought they were accomplishing by violence.


When the Traveling Wall comes to a town, it does not matter which side anyone was on during the Vietnam war. Nothing matters but them. People don't care which side the veterans were on either. All that matters is that they served this nation. It took a lot of years and pain to get to that point from both sides. Yet when the Wall was being built in Washington, people donated no matter which side of the debate they took. This was about the veterans and the lives lost. How many years will it take for us to face that fact now when it comes to Iraq?

People will take sides and this has happened since the Revolutionary War. It happened again during the Civil War. It happens with all wars. People are different, approach things differently, learn differently and make their decisions accordingly. Yet when it comes to the men and women who go to the wars the others argue about, we need to ask some very serious questions. Why are they not as passionate about taking care of the wounded of war as they are the action of war? Why are they not as passionate about taking care of the widows of war or providing for the children of the fallen? Why are they not as passionate about taking care of the veterans? Does all their passion dry up as soon as they are not serving the nation? Life is complicated but truly supporting the men and women who serve this nation should never be complicated or even debated. It should just be done. It should always come down to us standing with them no matter which side of the debate we take. We forget they take the sides as we do but while they serve they do their duty, their jobs and they do the best they can with what they are given. The problem is, we don't do the best we can for them.