Any Veteran or Veterans Group that questions IRAQINAM will be associated with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and VVAW. 

As follow up to my Blog about VoteVets.org board member and advisor Major General. John Batiste, USA-Retired, I did a Google search to find another good example of how Neo-Conservative Veterans and Veterans groups will “Swift Boat” an Iraq or Afghanistan Veteran and tie said Vet to both the anti-war movement and so-called anti-Iraq War groups even when such groups are not. 

The point of this BLOG is the prove to our younger brothers and sisters that the same thing is being done to them in the name of political gain that was done to Vietnam Veterans that spoke out or even only questioned that war and did not even oppose it.

Having been a campaign volunteer in Ohio for Veterans for Kerry/Edwards, I thought that I had seen all political campaign dirty tricks in 2004, I was wrong.

During the 2006 Senatorial race in Missouri, my dear friend who recently passed on Randy “Doc” Barnes kept me informed about the ruthlessness of former Missouri Senator Jim Talent who lost to Democrat Clare McCaskill. http://www.claireonline.com/ 

How does that relate to a Veterans Blog of Iraq Vets for that matter? It was not so much Republican Senator Talent’s ruthlessness than that of the Veterans supporting him that SWIFTBOATED a young Iraq combat Veteran in every way imaginable far surpassing anything that had been done to Senator John Kerry, because the enlisted man could be reached at home, by phone, and by email so he was subject to constant harassment by right-wing Veterans or wannabes. He was associated with the anti-war movement, and he was a member of no group opposing the Iraq War. His only crime was questioning the treatment of returning Veterans by the VA, the voting record of the Republican Senator (which turned out to be true), and doing an ad for the Democratic opponent. Thus, two things got him associated with the anti-war movement. (1) Being a Democrat which in itself could have been questionable. (2) Doing an ad questioning VA Medical Treatment and preparedness which every VSO under the sun has done in public on CSPAN

It was reported that Senator Talent tried to slander and demonize the young veteran of the war in Iraq, a man named Josh Lansdale. read  That young man's only transgression, the act for which Jim Talent thought  Josh should be publicly branded as a liar, was that he fought bravely in the war on terror and then spoke out at home about the mistreatment of veterans by the VA.

What really got the Talent campaign in an uproar and those NEOCON Veterans that supported Talent was that Josh did an effective ad for McCaskill and in fact for VoteVets across the nation that not only got the Republican National Committee’s knots tangled, but those right-wing Veterans organizations that support the Bush administration, and WE know who they were AND ARE. Josh's ad on television.

To say that Josh's ad won a hotly contested election for McCaskill would be overkill given the close election results but the ad had the desired impact to deem Josh more of a threat than McCaskill. Right-wing Veterans put more heat on Josh to back off or retract his ad than did Republican politicians. THAT SPEAKS VOLUMNS ABOUT WHO IRAQ VETERANS SHOULD TRUST = ONLY EACHOTHER!!!

 In the ad, Josh talked about how when he returned home from the Middle East with an injured leg and PTSD he waited more than six months for an appointment with a Veterans' Administration doctor. His wait was the result of cuts to veterans' programs made by Bush and the Republican Congress-- cuts that Talent supported.  When Talent should have been apologizing to Josh, his campaign manager Lloyd Smith instead went so far as to call Josh's claims "a fraud": Lloyd Smith ran George W. Bush's 2004 campaign in the state of Missouri. The same George W. Bush who refused repeatedly to provide documents that would prove he showed up for National Guard duty in Alabama.

Now Smith in true Karl Rovian fashion defamed as a "fraud" a young man who actually served in wartime and was injured in the line of duty. How many mainstream VSOs do you think came to the young Iraq Veteran’s Defense? More members of the Legion and VFW joined in the Swiftboating than defended the Iraq Vets honor, and that my young brothers and sisters IS WHY you have got to watch YOUR OWN BACKS!!! IT IS A LESSON MADE BRILLIANTLY CLEAR TO THOSE OF US RETURNING FROM VIETNAM BUT WILL BE HIDDEN A BIT FROM YOU UNTIL YOU EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS ON THE WAR.  By all means PLEASE express your views on the Iraq War, and express them early, especially when anywhere near a VA, or a mainstream VSO, then you will know I do not speak with forked tongue.  

As if that weren't enough, Talent got some of Missouri's Republican state legislators that happened to be VETERANS to join in on kicking Josh while he was down. Even though the ad has been off the air for at least a week, a group of pro-Talent veterans — including state Reps. Jack Jackson, R-Wildwood, and Jim Avery, R-Crestwood — gathered in front of the Soldiers Memorial Tuesday afternoon to blast the ad, McCaskill and Lansdale.

“I think that commercial is simply not true,'’ said Jackson. “I believe that Claire McCaskill did not verify her facts.'’

How disgusting. Jim Talent and his buddies support the troops only when they defer to the GOP's talking points. If they deviate from the President's political line, they are quickly cast aside as "liars" and "frauds", made into fodder for the GOP's high-powered media meat-grinder and their service to our nation is written off as an inconvenient footnote.  

For REPUBLICANS, (and other Bush supporters) a veteran who comes back home and interferes one iota with a re-election campaign is one whom they'd prefer have never come back from the war at all.

Josh and other Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans (regardless their views on THE WAR) needs to know that the overwhelming majority of Missourians, and the nation, support their service and when “any Veteran” takes an equally difficult public stand against cuts to veterans' funding. Those of us who support Josh should make sure that Senator’s like Talent ought to be supporting him too, instead of attacking him as a cheap political defense and end up where Talent is TODAY = A FORMER U.S. SENATOR and keep him out of the Congress.

I support Iraq Veterans like Josh, even if he does not YET oppose the war. I'll be calling our Senators and Congressman’s office first thing Monday morning, and I encourage anyone who values the commitment and sacrifice of our military veterans and troops to do the same. Here's how:I support Josh, and am tired of politicians like Jim Talent and former Ohio Senator Mike DeWine, and others attacking patriots like Josh from their money-stuffed thrones in Washington DC. I'll bet YOU support Josh, too.

We can all speak up to make sure that the Jim Talents that remain in Congress  don't try to playing this kind of sad, deceitful and immoral politics again in 2008 (regardless of political party), and let us EXPOSE, and put to shame those Veterans and Veterans groups who join politicians in the Swiftboating. Let them do it as individuals but when they invoke the illusion that ALL VETERANS or THEIR ORGANIZATION supports this cause or this politician it is time for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans to call them on it.  

Swift Boat once had an honorable meaning during the Vietnam War, but it was during the Presidential election of 2004 that the negative term SWIFTBOATING not to be confused with the Swift Boat crews that did serve with distinction during that controversial war did earn its place in DIRTY POLILTICS.

It was during the 2004 election that I made a prophecy that IF WE THE VETERAN allowed other VETERANS to get away with institutionalizing the term and concept SWIFTBOATING, that the strategy would be used by ultra-conservatives and others both Veterans, and those who have never served in military uniform to degrade or downplay the service of ANY FUTURE VETERAN for political or monetary gain. THAT HAS COME TO PASS.

My Blog about a Republican Congressman’s attempt to tag Republican Retired Major General John Batiste as a Democrat, because the General questions the Iraq SURGE is case in point.

THE COLLECTIVE WE saw what happened to Senator John Kerry repeat itself over and over and over again to ANY VETERAN (Iraq, Afghanistan or not) that questioned or spoke out against either the Republican party or anything it represented, including the Department of Veterans Affairs that is managed by Republican appointees. Why? BECAUSE the NEOCONS, including NEOCON VETERANS know the concept of Swiftboating WORKS, and they play to WIN!

WE are going to again see such piss poor behavior in 2008. Don’t believe me, look at whom the Political Action Committees of the VFW supported in 2006, and who they will support in 2008 (WINK).

In fact, let WE THE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS AND FAMILY MEMBERS closely monitor the political affiliation of each VSO chapter, state, and National Organization to get a pulse for where their loyalties are? With America’s Veterans or any one partisan political party that consistently takes benefits from Young American Veterans like Josh Lansdale who has been vindicated not only by helping to win an election in MO, but by the many horror stories of Walter Reed, and VA inability to plan for or be funded to handle the massive return of troops with mental illness. Not to mention the scandals surrounding the VA such as management awards while Vets wait for appointments and claims adjudication.  

In fact, the solution thus far by all concerned has to be to degrade and belittle the potential problem just as they have those combat Veterans like Josh that speak out. Even within the hierarchy of VVA there are Vietnam Veterans right now that would belittle Josh’s PTSD at the drop of a dime for political motivation just as they did John Kerry’s, not because they doubt Josh has PTSD, or that Josh served in combat in Iraq, but because they think Josh opposes IRAQINAM or his political ad hurts that War effort. Why? Because such liberal actions lost their view of their war in Vietnam or so THEY THINK! Bullshit! This leader who wants to remake VVA in the VFW, American Legion image of 1968.  WE know who YOU and your ilk are within VVA too. Don’t us Randy Barnes and to get to YOU we need to destroy the Legion and VFW. (WINK)

News Analysis: Talent and McCaskill campaign ads 

October 26, 2006

Even early in the campaign, there were hints of negative advertising. Many of these ads came from the Real Missouri Voices ad campaign from the McCaskill campaign. One ad in the campaign that caused controversy was an ad called "Josh."

The advertisement profiled a young war veteran, Josh Lansdale, who came back from Iraq with an injured ankle and post traumatic stress disorder. In the ad, Lansdale claimed that it took him six months to see a doctor for his injuries. The ad then turned to Talent’s voting record on veterans benefits.

The controversy began when Mike Mahoney of KMBC TV in Kansas City released an "AdWatch" story calling the ad "problematic" because it did not provide evidence of Lansdale's story. Mahoney's story quoted Veterans Administration officials that said that all returning veterans are seen within 30 days of their return.

McCaskill's campaign would not release any documents proving Lansdale's story, and Lansdale would not talk with Mahoney outside of a short phone conversation or take calls from the McCaskill campaign to clear up his story, according to Mahoney.

"All you have to do is talk to any veteran to, in fact, confirm that this ad is true," McCaskill said about the controversy while meeting with the press after the third debate in Springfield, Missouri. McCaskill said that fourteen veterans have been in her office with similar stories.

"He doesn't want to, and they (the records) are his private records," McCaskill said in defense of not releasing the documents of Lansdale's medical experience. She continued by saying that he felt "uncomfortable" with releasing the documents.

"I am more offended that they called Josh a liar than that they called me a liar," McCaskill said during the debate in Springfield.

Surprisingly, the ad, outside of the controversy over Josh's medical records, proved to be quite reliable. The ad backup provided clear cut examples of the twenty-three votes that Talent cast "against veterans’ benefits." Largely, the votes were accurate. The ad, however, failed to take into account other increases and decreases in budget or other factors that could play into decisions to vote for or against a bill or amendment or motion.

Major Hanafin’s comment: Given the trends and experience of overall Republican Congressional Voting Records of Bills beneficial to Veterans ‘that party’ as a whole has done the same as Senator Talent of MO and consistently cast votes “against veterans’ benefits’ during WARTIME as they consistently ASK MORE SACRIFICE from those who will become the future Josh Lansdale’s returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus, any vote on Veterans Bills in Congress that failed to take into account other increases and decreases in budget or other factors that could play into decisions to vote for or against a bill or amendment or motion ARE IRRELEVANT unless the rest of the nation is expected to share in the same sacrifice as past and future Veterans like Josh.

What is most ironic is that when Veterans like Josh speak out about the mistreatment or shortchanging of America’s Veterans, who are the first to attack them? Right-wing veterans that support the very politicians that are screwing Veterans DAH. It is very easy to figure out who and what these right-wing Veterans Organizations are, and let Major Hanafin assure you THEY ARE NOT PERFORMING AMERICA’S VETERAN ANY SERVICE WHEN THEY DO THIS DURING ANY ELECTION YEAR, AND 2008 IS AN ELECTION YEAR.

When you hear these deceitful words whispered in your ear, “leave politics out of Veterans Issues,” watch out because you know the Veterans leaders or group saying it is collaborating with the opposition political party to take Veterans benefits away from you.

YOU better believe that Veterans benefits and funding issues ARE POLITICAL issues or VSOS would not have Political Action Committees that focus on supporting candidates that stay the course in Iraq, big ticket weapon systems, and glorify war. Frankly, we cannot have it ALL plus take care of the Josh’s coming home wounded in mind or body.

Consistently playing the SWIFT BOAT game every election only accomplishes this: degrading military service to the point that only the highest bidder will want to do it, and it will get mighty expensive. In fact, it would probably be less expensive to outsource our National Security than to turn our volunteer force into a Swift Boat, back stabbing, right-wing, mercenary force, highly politically oriented. It also gives us the opportunity to separate the decent Joshua’s from the rest of the folks who will endure endless misuse and abuse from our government, right-wing Veterans and NEOCONS from the majority of the nation, so we have a head count of the True Majority.

Then, maybe then we have a solution everyone can live and die with. The NEOCONS (be they Republicans or Democrats) can be happy fighting and dying for whatever it is they believe in (GIVING WAR A NEVER ENDING CHANCE) and let the rest of America get on with ignoring them, Iraq, the War on Terror, and on to Progress.

Let those who don’t want no to anymore NEOCON cool aid be allowed to stop drinking it. The immoral minority is just too addicted to giving war a chance to know any better. They are hooked. They need rehabilitation from war. Frankly, the solution and CURE is to SEND those who refuse to stop drinking the NEOCON coolaid to WAR – endless War until THEY tire of the addiction to WAR!!!

Robert L. Hanafin, Specialist-5, U.S. Army (69-76), Major, U.S. Air Force (77-94)

Google HITS on Josh Lansdale:

http://www.google.com/search?q=JOSH+LANSDALE&hl=en&start=10&sa=N

Google HITS on Josh Lansdale:

http://www.google.com/search?as_q=&hl=en&num=10&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=JOSH+LANSDALE&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=images

IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER OF THE MAINSTREAM VSO (VFW OR AMERICAN LEGION) not only will you be slandered, but YOU will be associated with the anti-IRAQINAM War movement if you want to be or not. This is but one more tool that the right-wing, especially right-wing Veterans use to both keep YOU in line, and have you believe that RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

Frankly, this is even more reason to be polite to, respectful to, BUT NEVER JOIN any mainstream VSO NONE, NADA, period.

Check out and become a member of the increasing number of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans groups and organizations that will NO SHIT serve YOUR INTERESTS, and the INTERESTS of YOUR VETERANS GROUP.

If Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans have the ability to form their own Political Action Committees to challenge the VFW and other Bush supporting VSOs, we can also train our own Veteran Service Officers across the nation to do claims processing. The VA has become politicized, so WE already know how to crack that nut. We did it at Walter Reed, and all we need to do is wait out 2007 to 2008 to gain management control of the VA, and overhaul, shack-up, and lesson learned at what Max Cleland ran into after Vietnam to not make the same mistakes of foot dragging by an entrenched VFW and American Legion.