Senator Clinton's accounts of her time in Tuzla are now familiar to us all.
Several military folks have come forward to speak of valor theft. Tammi Hetherington bravely came forward. General Stewart has supported her assertions. I live in a state that supported Senator Clinton overwhelmingly. Since this issue has emerged several of my close friends have begun to feel uncomfortable about Senator Clinton's candidacy. Here's why:
Whatever hidden agendas, innocent mistakes, or inadequate decisions our elected leaders make when enacting public policy; our military are bound by oath, law, duty and love, to serve those leaders who are supposed to represent "the will of the people". They are mandated to serve "even unto death".
That sacred oath, taken by those who serve, makes Senator Clinton's casual, calculated, and repeated lies about events in Tuzla so deeply disturbing to so many.
Four thousand U.S. Soldiers are dead. Over 30,000 others have lost limbs, endured disfigurement, unrelenting pain, traumatic brain injury, and psychic trauma. 34,000 families have gotten horrifying phone calls, after years of living with the daily fear of a stray sniper bullet, mortar fire or cluster bomb.
Each day, hundreds of thousands more live with the fear that their loved ones might be next.
Many dreams and ambitions have been permanently altered or extinguished in the service of decisions made five years ago to invade Iraq. These decisions were made by politicians.
Twenty-three US Senators voted against the Iraq War, including one Republican. These Senators defied bullying by Team Bush and had the wisdom and courage to vote "nay" on October 11, 2002. Many of these Senators are distinguished and well known. However, out of all the leaders of Congress, none possessed the sheer star quality of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton who arguably, could have most successfully challenged the decision to invade Iraq.
As the former First Lady, coming off a national bestselling book tour in 2001, she also served on the Senate Arms Services committee when the crucial decision to use military force was made five years ago. Through her husband, she clearly had the power, connections, favors owed and influence beyond what other politicians had access to. She was, at that time, in a unique position to use her great advantage to take a stand against George W. Bush, and the highly dubious "intelligence" coming from the Vice-President's office. She wouldn't have had to stand alone: she had at least 23 Senators who would have backed her- perhaps many more if she had spoken up.
Just think what she could have accomplished had she bothered to read a vital Intelligence Report that raised not only serious concerns whether any sound basis for justifying this action existed, but also foretold in chilling accuracy the events that have transpired since the invasion and have mired us in a deadly morass. Senator Clinton could have been a national hero who rooted out the Bush-Cheney lies and distortions. She could have beaten George Bush in 2004 and been President. But no, she chose the narcissistic route- only thinking of herself and her political future.
Thus, she gave her endorsement "with conviction"- effortlessly committing our blood and treasure.
Today, she is hunting down every political favor owed and contacts from decades ago in order to become America's next Commander-in-Chief. Another person of greater character might, reflecting upon all the suffering that her decision brought, have chosen to demur from seeking the position of Commander-in-Chief, out of humility and perhaps a conscience.
Instead, we have a candidate who openly lies to voters to win an election. More significantly, she is betraying the work, sacrifice and sacred service of countless persons who have endured and suffered real bullets in service to our nation. She mischaracterized and trivialized these servants of our democracy in a stagey theatrical lie, repeated over and over, in front of hundreds of thousands of citizens, where our military's service was treated like a convenient stage prop on a Hollywood set.
Of note is the fact that the individual service of each of the many fallen, and all of the legion wounded, will never be as widely acclaimed nor as handsomely compensated as Mrs. Clinton has been in her various public roles. Since 1992, when her husband first became a Presidential candidate, right up until this very day, others are charged with preserving her life, even at the expense of their own. Her behavior trivializes these very great privileges and the profound effort of others.
Her lies convey an abject lack of awareness. The theatricality of their delivery demonstrates a chilling shallowness in her thinking. This is strong evidence of a character disordered. And sadly, it's evidence of the kind of shallow thinking and theatrical "conviction" that led to her vote to invade Iraq.
Senator Clinton has engaged in theft of valor. She should be censured publicly by the Senate and all of Congress. She must never be entrusted with the position of Commander in Chief.
And shame on us if we place so little value upon our military's service that we honor her with our votes.