I stumbled on this Youtube video this afternoon. It was posted under 3 weeks ago, and it already has over 7,000,000 views. Even the dramatic chipmunk didn't go viral that fast. A lot of people are watching this, and it's helping McCain big-time.
Hit the jump for the video.
The video features an Iraq veteran addressing Barack Obama directly.
Transcript:
Dear Mr. Obama:
Having spent 12 months in the Iraq theater, I can promise you: this was not a mistake. I witnessed firsthand the many sacrifices made for the people of Iraq. Those sacrifices were not mistakes. The Iraqi people are just like us. They want a chance to live in a secure world. Free from tyranny. Free from terrorism. Free to prosper. Free to raise their children, and pass on a future. Are they better off today than they were in 2002? You bet.
I've seen many men sacrifice their lives for the Iraqi people. They died for a purpose. Not a mistake. They died giving hope. They died promoting freedom. Do you rescue a fireman just as he's about to save a child?
When you call the Iraqi war a mistake, you disrespect the service and the sacrifice of everyone who has died promoting freedom. Freedom carries with it a price. Because you do not understand nor appreciate these principles, sir, I am supporting Senator John McCain for president. He, too, made a huge sacrifice promoting freedom, because he understands a fundamental truth: Freedom is always worth the price.
The veteran then walks away from the camera as the song "I'm proud to be an American" plays triumphantly. It is revealed that the veteran has a prosthetic leg. John McCain's face fades into view.
Comments have been disabled for this video.
I can never disparage the service of a veteran. However, it infuriates me when McCain supporters use the opinions of a small minority of soldiers to speak for the entire armed forces.
My girlfriend is an Iraqi war veteran. She joined the Army in 2002 and could not fathom that we would be invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. She served her 4 years, but is now living in terror that she will be called back on Stop-Loss, as many of her fellow soldiers have. The Iraq she describes to be is very different. She saw corruption, waste, inhuman acts being perpetrated every day. Her unit was used to do contracting work for private companies whose own workers were too afraid to transport materials from one place to another. She returned to the United States feeling used, exploited, lied to. When she sought treatment for PTSD, she was told that the VA in Los Angeles had no resources available for females suffering from PTSD, only support groups for men.
I love her so much, and I can't stand the thought of her being away for 15 months in the middle of a war zone. She just wants to continue going to school and get on with her life, but cannot when she knows the threat of redeployment is constantly hanging over her head.
That is why it irks me when I see this young man say that calling this war a mistake is disrespectful to "the service and the sacrifice of everyone who has died promoting freedom."
I consider it disrespectful to call it anything BUT that, as it would be perpetuating the greatest lie ever perpetrated against the American people. I would go as far as to describe it as criminal, and I would call upon each member of the Bush administration to personally apologize to every man and woman that has had to endure deployment after endless deployment and the families that have had to suffer without them.
There is a difference between honoring the sacrifices made by our soldiers