OP-ED: Blind to reality

These veterans, although brave in their service, seem to be just as blind as they accuse Mr. Obama of being. I ask that they and anyone else who supports the occupation of Iraq to remember a story we all should know about another country that would not stop fighting until a foreign country left their land. That country is the United States of America. What would we be today if a British equivalent to Pete Hegseth made a voyage to the colonies to shore up support for the British to stay here and continue to govern our country?

RecentVet is NOT knowledgeable of the Iraq situation. First of all we are not "Occupying" the country, our brave soldiers lead by a courageous Commander in Chief have "LIBERATED" Iraq. And most of my fellow vets do support the Liberation of Iraq. So crawl back into your hole you disgraceful anti-American. In fact, I don't believe you are a "recentvet." O. P. Ditch Col USAF (ret) http://Vets4McCain.com

Recentvet, Are you actually suggesting there is some kind of similarity between US soldiers remaining in Iraq to help them with their own government in its early stages and the British enforcement of their own illegal governance of one of their colonies? Tell me that's not what you are trying to do.

Thank you so much for this informative article guys. I will praying before, during and after you take this fact-finding journey. Hey you guys, did you know you can donate to their organization, the Vets For Freedom? (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/) Let's show our support by ponying up! ;)

It is common to say someone is not a veteran when you disagree with their politics, which just shortcuts having to make a logical argument. From opditch's comment it seems that not only is he a vet but he is not a recent one, as well as having little to no working knowledge of the history of Iraq. Being a Col seems to have given him little on the ground knowledge if he is in fact recent. Also, SCCuck was able to connect the dots! We cannot ever "win" in Iraq. We can only pacify or suppress the Iraqi people. As an American I signed up to the US Military to stop countries and dictators from doing exactly that. It does not make occupation ok if its an American flag flying over it. Having morals as an individual and a country means you will not be blind to your own faults. As a last note this op-ed claims that VFF is "the largest group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in America " yet their membership is open to veterans of any conflict as well as non veterans. It seems their membership is mostly a list-serv of anyone who wants to join. I'd like to see proof of how many of their members are actually Iraq and Afghanistan Vets. It must be pretty small since they don't publish it.

The Germany visit claim was not supported by the press on the ground. Why repeat it? Is this group serving Vets or Republicans? Honest answers do not come if you start out with a stated bias. I hope this is not the same group that in the past went to Iraq and then stayed in the hotel room to blog. Security improvements in Iraq depends on who you are and where you are. I still do not find a definition of winning that does not also fit the definition of occupation. Vets for Freedom claims to be the largest and so does IAVA. I can't join anything but the email list of IAVA since I am not a vet. The claim to largest may be disputed. From IVA.org: Founded in June 2004, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans. just a daughter of a WWII Navy vet, and daughter-in-law of Korean Army vet