McCain's war posturing killing morale for troops

Veteran, vets' advocate: McCain's war posturing killing morale for troops
Nick Langewis and David Edwards
Published: Thursday June 12, 2008

The "surge" is working, we are winning in Iraq, and it's "not too important" as to when the troops will be returning home, Senator and presidential hopeful John McCain (R-AZ) said this week.

Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), or McCain's "dog's body," as MSNBC's Keith Olbermann refers to him, portrayed McCain as a particular authority on the Iraq occupation based on his service in Vietnam.

McCain's potential position of power as Commander-in-Chief and his experience in combat give his words extra power to disappoint the troops that hear his projections, and he should know better, said Brandon Friedman, Vice Chairman of VoteVets and a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Keith, this is a morale crusher," Friedman said. "If you can imagine, say, a sergeant, who's on his third tour, and he's in the fourteenth month of that tour, and he hears the potential President say something like this, it kills morale.

"The troops over there hang on every word they hear from a leader...especially the Commander-in-Chief, but also someone who could be the Commander-in-Chief. And when they hear something like this, it really kills them on the inside because, you know, their families want them home--they want to come home--or focus on the real Global War on Terror elsewhere."

Olbermann asked: "Does it matter more that they are abandoned by a John McCain who did serve as opposed to a George Bush who did not?"

"Absolutely, Keith," Friedman said. "We've come to not expect a whole lot from George W. Bush. But, when you have a veteran like John McCain who has gone through so much in Vietnam, you really expect a lot more out of him...He should know better. And, for those of us who have been there and who have lived through this, we just would expect a lot more, and it really saddens us to see this happen, because there are thousands and thousands of veterans who just disagree with him on this."

This video is from MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, broadcast June 11, 2008.
go here for video
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Veteran_McCain_gaffe_kills_morale_for_0612.html

Keith Olbermann had a special comment tonight which will end up on YouTube sometime tomorrow I'm sure. He talked about this and about the fact the families are really hurting with the redeployments and extended tours. Olbermann also raised the point that the American people are paying for all of this. It doesn't seem to matter very much to the people in Washington DC that none of this was what we were told it would be and no one lived up to the obligation they owed those who were sent.

I would really like to know what McCain thinks qualifies him to run as someone ready to lead the military. Did he ever plan any kind of military operation? Give orders to men and women in his command? Was he ever responsible for anything more than what he flew? When it comes to being a veteran, yes he was a POW and he bravely chose to stay with the rest of the POW's when he had the chance to leave, his record however as a veteran and a Senator has not been with the veterans. Is it because he had it so hard as a POW that he doesn't think the troops are suffering so badly compared to what he went through so no one should really feel sorry for them, want to take care of them or want to fight for them? It really is a shame when you get right down to it. I voted for McCain in 2000. If he was still the same kind of man he was back then, or what he appeared to be, I would be thinking of voting for him again. The problem is, that man, the man who earned respect is now thinking he's entitled to it without any question.

As for the rest, he doesn't seem to know much about Iraq or Afghanistan, the economy or anything else.