When I first got into the race for Colorado's 6th Congressional District against Tom Tancredo, I did an online interview for ePluribus Media that covered a lot of ground. As many of you have come to expect, I was open and honest with my answers, and it gave some on my campaign staff fits.
But my campaign was significantly under the radar when I answered those questions, and I wanted to revisit them now when more people are paying attention, because I think there are some important truths here.
So I am going to post that interview one question at a time with only minor revisions where needed to reflect the passage of eight months. I look forward to your feedback and will try to respond to your comments as much as possible. So here comes number two:
Q) You served many years in the Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy. How does your military background inform your view on the Iraq War?
A) It's important to understand a couple of things about my service. First, I was enlisted during my time in both the Corps and the Navy. For those unfamiliar with the military, that means I was part of the majority of those in the military who got our hands dirty and worked for a living. I was always the one giving the salute, never the one getting it. Second, I wasn't a hero or anything like that. I never saw anything remotely like combat. I simply did my job and showed up and followed orders. In the Navy I served with distinction and received many awards, but I never served in a combat zone.
None of which takes anything away from the ten years that I spent serving my Country, and that service informs my view of the Iraq War in several ways. The very first way is that it gives me an understanding of what it means to be enlisted in the military and the things that impact morale. So when Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney or any of their subordinates says that dissent in America is "hurting the morale of the troops" I can say without hesitation that they are lying. Or at the very least they have no idea what they are talking about.
You see, no one in the Bush administration ever served in the military, and I include Mr. Bush when I say that. When he was in the Air National Guard, he was the highly privileged son of a very important elected official, and the grandson of another. He had privileges most people in the Guard would never have. He also served in the Air Guard at a time when everyone knew the Air National Guard would not be called to active duty. Contrast that with the situation today in which National Guard units are spending a year at a time on active duty, and doing it more than once.
Troop morale in the military is tied to things that impact everyday life--pay rates, time off, length of time away from family, benefits, things of that nature. It is actually George Bush and the Republican Congress that are hurting troop morale in Iraq and elsewhere. They do it when they send units back for second and third tours in Iraq. They do it when they cut funds for on base housing for troops or when they cut funds for medical care for active duty troops and veterans. They do it when they stand up and say things like "Bring it on", which puts the troops in more danger. They do it when they refuse to offer any plan for how to be successful in Iraq, so that troops don't know if they will ever be victorious there.
But my time in the military also gives me insight into other aspects of the war. I've worn the body armor and carried a pack and an M-16 in 100+ degree heat. I've slept in holes I dug, and eaten rations from a plastic bag and looked at another human being down the sights of an M-16 or a machine gun. I was in an artillery unit and I've seen the damage an artillery shell does. I was in an F-14 squadron and I've seen what bombs do when they explode. I've seen men wounded and killed. I've felt hot blood flow over my hands from the stump where a man's leg used to be. I know the price being paid in blood by both Americans and Iraqis in this war.
Neither Tom Tancredo nor anyone in the current Presidential Administration knows anything about these things. And they don't really care. They don't care about the troops. They don't care about the lives lost on both sides. And they don't care about the families.
I do care. I won't allow anyone ever to question my support for the troops. I AM THE TROOPS! I served my Country and defended the Constitution so that Americans would have the right to stand and protest the President or the Congress or the government in whatever form.
Let me make one last point on this. My older brother was an Air Force doctor and is currently a psychiatrist at a Veteran's Administration hospital. He has told me enough about the problems they are already seeing in troops returning from Iraq for me to know that we have a real problem looming in our future. This war is leaving wounds, both visible and not, that will haunt our Country for a generation, just as the wounds from the Vietnam war have.
As someone who has worn the uniform, I find that tragic. When we arrive at boot camp and put on the uniform for the first time, we are all young, eager, strong, and just want to serve. Too often when we take off that uniform for the last time, we are broken and shattered and only a shadow of what we once were.
I believe our Nation owes a debt to our Veterans and I will fight to see that debt paid in full!
Bill Winter
http://winterforcongress.com/