The Iraq War Veterans Bush Doesn't Want You To See

The Iraq War veterans Americans are accustomed to seeing are the ones who serve as a backdrop to the Presidents photo opportunities, not veterans who are in disagreement with the handling of the war and the recent troop build up.

VideoVets is a new project from MoveOn.Org which is using the power of the Internet to spread the message of several Iraq war veterans and their families to homes across the country.

Their stories are moving, inspirational and informative.

These are the Iraq War veterans that the President doesn't want you to see, the ones who disagree with him.

It takes a lot of courage for anyone to speak truth to power, and likewise it takes a tremendous amount of courage for Iraq war veterans to stand up and voice their opposition to the current situation in Iraq and the circumstances that brought us there.

There are those who have argued from the beginning that to question the President is to undermine the troops and that the President should not be criticized in a time of war. They have forgotten the words that were written by a member of their own political party.

Former President Theodore Roosevelt, a progressive Republican once wrote :

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

That is also the quote that came to mind when hearing the following words from Michael Breen, a Veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

VideoVets: Michael Breen

"There are definitely those who say that by critiquing the administration or criticizing our current strategy your not supporting the troops. This is a government for and by the people - and so to say that to question the executive branch is to fail to support the troops, I think it's almost un-American."

[...]

"So I think the best way to support the troops is to exercise the very democratic process that they signed up to defend. And very frequently people say - to argue against the administration is to not support the troops are people who have never served in combat, never heard a shot fired in anger, and frankly that personally offends me."

In a separate video Iraq War veteran John Bruhns stated " I feel used and misled by the administration."

VideoVets: John Bruhns

"I feel as if my patriotism has been used and exploited, my willingness to fight for this country has been used and exploited. I'm very proud of my military service and I'm very disappointed in the civilian leadership and the administration for sending us needlessly into combat."

Garret Reppenhagen who was a sniper in Iraq had this to say :

VideoVets: Garret Reppenhagen

"Moral was a constant issue, constantly learning we had been lied to over and over again. We're out looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction and losing soldiers and having soldiers becoming injured when the President was here looking under his furniture in the Oval Office for Weapons of Mass Destruction, mocking us."

[...]

"It was always hard to keep the moral up and stay encouraged to do the mission. It's just a ridiculous idea to say that calling for a withdrawal is not supporting the troops. Supporting the troops is making responsible decisions for the troops safety and use them when it's only necessary, that's supporting the troops."

Shelly Burgoyne served two tours of duty in Iraq and her husband is currently serving in Iraq. She is opposed to the troop build up.

VideoVets: Shelly Burgoyne

"I love the Army and am proud to have served in it, but I can no longer ignore the truth."

[...]

"At this point we stand unable to respond to any military conflict or any domestic disaster. Escalation of the war in Iraq is not Republican it is not Democrat, it is simply tactically and morally irresponsible. That is why I a veteran stand with Move On and Vote Vets and oppose the escalation of the war in Iraq."

If you are a blogger and want to blog about VideoVets visit this link for promo graphics and coding. You can also visit this link for the codes to embed any of the videos on your blog.

You can visit the VideoVets site and watch all videos at this link and vote for which one you would like to see made into a commercial.