Inside the Ring

Buyer vs. Legion

An extraordinary fight has broken out between the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans group.

It began Nov. 10, when Rep. Steve Buyer, Indiana Republican, dispatched a heated letter to Thomas L. Bock, the Legion’s national commander. The spat revolves around a “veterans summit” Mr. Buyer hosted that month at the Army War College and the timetable for veterans service organization testimony.

“I am pleased that the veterans summit at Carlisle Barracks on Nov. 7 was a productive and collaborative event,” Mr. Buyer wrote to Mr. Bock. “It is unfortunate that the American Legion chose not to send a representative.”

The congressman then criticized the Legion for not submitting in a timely fashion its views on veterans legislation. “The current process does not take full advantage of your input, as your views come after major budget decisions have already been made,” he said.

The chairman’s letter set off a firestorm inside the Legion’s national headquarters in Indianapolis.

“I received your letter dated Nov. 10,” Mr. Bock wrote back to Mr. Buyer on Monday. “I have thought about your letter this Veterans Day weekend. I have shared it with the leadership and senior staff of the American Legion. I must tell you, sir, to a person, we find your letter and your implications to be insulting and patronizing.”

Mr. Bock said he never received an invitation to the summit. “I might say to you that it is unfortunate that your staff chose not to send an invitation to the national commander of the American Legion,” he said. “I might also add that it is unfortunate that your staff did not follow up when you had not heard from the national commander.”

Mr. Bock then scolded Mr. Buyer for not attending the American Legion’s national convention in Hawaii last August.

“We have worked with chairmen on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers for many, many years,” he added. “At times there has been acrimony over certain issues and disagreement over certain proposed courses of action, but at no time until recently have the disagreements been reduced to a personal level.”

NSA vulnerability

The vast majority of the best U.S. intelligence gathered from around the world comes from the electronic eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency located at Fort Meade, Md.

U.S. intelligence officials tell us that plans to relocate the NSA headquarters’ elements to more secure locations away from public access were prompted by the danger posed by a suicide airline or truck bomb attack.

The shining glass windows of the building are visible from the roadways, including the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

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