I think this is a positive step

[patgund]

Veterans-Turned-Candidates Have New PAC

"A new political action committee to put veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in Congress is getting under way.

"There is not one policymaker debating this war who has actually fought this war," Jon Soltz, the executive director of the PAC and an Iraq war veteran, said in an interview Wednesday.

Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate, is heading the advisory board of the group, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America PAC."

(Note: Gen. Clark is, himself, a Vietnam Vet.)

The article does mention that:

"All are Democrats except for Van Taylor, a Texas Republican who is running for the seat held by Democratic incumbent Rep. Chet Edwards.

Soltz said a Republican can get his group's backing. "This PAC is open to everyone who served," he said. "What we're concerned about is people who are right about Iraq.

Specifically, the group wants detailed plans, with timetables, for the gradual withdrawal of troops from Iraq. It also supports funding increases for the Veterans Affairs Department and expanded health benefits for veterans, among other things."

Comments

[electorprince.livejournal.com]

It can "want" all they wish; the military is under zero obligation to provide Congress with any detailed plans or timetables for withdrawal from a combat zone, because none of that is up to the military. This is a group specifically designed to put pressure on the President as Commander-in-Chief, not for any benefit of any of us who were over there. If Congress wants to "help", they can STFU and let us do our jobs instead of trying to lead from the rear and run this war they way they "think" a war should be run.

It should also bear note than anyone that they're looking for to actually be in Congress, are also the people that do their best to not see what happens to line units in Iraq. When they start asking retired Sergeants Major or ETS'd lower enlisted with shrapnel in their necks to run for office, we'll see. Until then, this is a field grade officer playground and a political pressure stunt. That Gen. Casey is even involved is a measure of how far off the beaten path he's fallen since his time in uniform.