Posted on 09/18/2004 11:54:23 AM PDT by kattracks
A new anti-Bush ad from liberal political online action group MoveOn.org features the image of a surrendering American soldier in Iraq.The ad is especially critical of President George W. Bush taking the United States to war with Iraq and echoes the presidential campaign of Democrat John F. Kerry who said the money should be spent on domestic issues such as education and health care.
"George Bush misled us into war with Iraq, sending poorly equipped soldiers into battle," the voiceover announcer begins in the MoveOn.org ad. "He said 'Mission Accomplished,' yet almost every day more soldiers die."
A caption notes that there have been "over 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed" since the war in Iraq began over a year ago.
Although Bush attempted to go through the United Nations for a diplomatic resolution with Iraq's failure to comply with weapons inspectors, the MoveOn.org ad accuses the president of "going it alone."
"George Bush has spent $150 billion dollars [on the war in Iraq], money we need for schools and health care," the ad charged, with a caption highlighting "$150 billion."
Attempting to cast doubt in voter's minds about whether going to war with Iraq was the right thing to do, MoveOn.org claims that the "growing insurgency" in Iraq combined with "no real plan to end the war" is enough reason to institute a regime change in America.
"George Bush got us into this quagmire," the voiceover proclaims. "It will take a new president to get us out."
The word "quagmire" appears on the screen at the end of the ad.
MoveOn.org is one of the infamous 527 third party groups that are allowed to advertise with an unlimited amount of money during political elections as long as there is no communication between the groups and candidates.
Despite criticism from the Kerry campaign to the Bush campaign about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads that recently questioning Kerry's account of his service in Vietnam, the Kerry campaign has refused to denounce any ads from MoveOn.org or other liberal anti-Bush groups.
However, Bush Campaign Chairman Marc Racicot said Kerry "should apologize for the actions of his surrogates [at MoveOn.org] and demand that they take down their ad depicting a defeated American soldier [surrendering]."
Racicot said the MoveOn.org ad fits well with the theme of the Kerry campaign.
"John Kerry's campaign is rooted in the past, hollow with pessimism, and preaching defeat to the American people," Racicot declared.
Noting Kerry's "continually shifting positions on Iraq," Racicot said the "sinking rhetoric of a defeated America sends a signal to our allies and our enemies that America is not willing to finish the job" in Iraq if Kerry becomes president.
"This attitude undermines the great progress that the men and women in America's armed forces have made in the fight against terror around the world," Racicot concluded. "America expects more from one who aspires to the position of commander-in-chief."
Former U.S. Senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, who is serving as Chairman of President Bush's Veterans Coalition, also reacted strongly to the MoveOn.org ad and the lack of any reaction from the Kerry campaign.
"I call on John Kerry to demand that MoveOn.org take down their ad depicting a defeated American soldier," Dole said in a statement. "It's one thing to debate whether we should take the fight to the terrorists, but depicting an American soldier in effect surrendering in the battle against the terrorists is beyond the pale."
Dole said he is surprised Kerry would "approve" of such a "disgusting and demoralizing portrayal of American soldiers" since he "reminds of daily of his Vietnam service."
"John Kerry has raised doubts about our troops' ability to maintain security as well as Iraqi's ability to decide their own future through elections," Dole reminded, explaining that Kerry once called the American allies in Iraq "window dressing."
Recalling Kerry's testimony on Capitol Hill after returning from Vietnam, Dole charged that Kerry has been anti-military ever since.
"This is all reminiscent of his appearance before a Senate Committee in 1971 where he suggested with nothing but second hand information American GIs were committing atrocities and war crimes of the worst kind in Vietnam," Dole noted. "This defeatist attitude undermines the great progress and sacrifices of our men and women in the military and the contributions of our allies who are fighting against terror and standing up for freedom around the world."
Describing Kerry's "politics of pessimism" regarding the war on terror as "extreme," Dole said Kerry and his fellow liberal Democrats are "consumed by the past with nothing to offer but attacks on the President's agenda for creating a safer world."
Appealing directly to Kerry regarding the MoveOn.org ad, Dole asked, "John, say it isn't so and denounce this latest effort to divide Americans."
Ironic that they would use that image, when surrender is exactly what they are calling on us to do.
That's how Kerry and Jane and others helped us to lose in Vietnam, and now he's trying the same strategy with Iraq in order to advance his own political ambitions.
Imagine using the image of a defeated American soldier - the very idea seems absurd to me, but not to the folks over at MoveOn.org. What country is George Soros from?
There are 1000 babies aborted every day in this country by people who call themselves physicians.
I guess the Dems are more courageous when their enemies are blind and tiny can't shoot back.
What a scumbag he is
Yes, it's back to leftist, anti-American extremism all over again -- Kerry (supported by his sugar-daddy Soros) is again running a political campaign ON THE BACKS OF OUR BRAVE AND PATRIOTIC SOLDIERS!!!!
If I were Bush, I would hold a suprise press conference, with a poster made of THAT PICTURE, and rip the Kerry campaign (and Soros) --- on public TV !!!!! Show the scum for what they are.
Seditious Traitors BTTT
If and when the real America Civil War comes home to roost, remember all the enemies of America, have them written down.
They'll try to blend into the woodwork and will be terrorists tomorrow, like Ba'athists in Iraq today.
Mr. Soros was born in Hungary.
I think even Moveon has given up on getting Kerry elected. They will now run desperate ads that might hurt Bush but will assist Soros other agenda of campaign finance reform.
These people need to leave.
It's not ironic, and it wasn't at all accidental.
MoveOn is very publicly calling for an American surrender in Iraq, to turn it over to the "insurgency" (the terrorist extremists).
Michael Moore, for one, said the terrorists in Iraq were "minutemen," like American patriots. The hard left supports anti-American terrorists and wants us to surrender.
WE CANNOT LET THE LEFT DO TO IRAQ WHAT THEY DID TO VIET NAM!
And for the last time, Pres Bush DID NOT say "Mission accomplished". He called an end to the combat phase of the war in order for the UN to release sanctions, which would not be done until that point. The sanctions had to be released to allow the necessary aid to flow into Iraq. Tommy Franks discussed this in his book.
The "mission accomplished" banner was made by soldiers and posted as a message to the arriving President that they had indeed concluded their mission. This was the ship that was on it's way back home when it was redeployed and had to go back. It was deployed longer than any other ship and was rightly proud to declare to their CinC "mission accomplished". This was reported long ago and restated in a recent article about the death of the young man who piloted in with GWB. (He died of natural causes, not in battle). They said in the article the soldiers made the banner for the Pres.
So all you lurking DUmmies, shut the h*ll up about the "mission accomplished" thing already. Like 95% of your talking points, it's a lie and a non-issue.
The image of an American soldier surrendering can have only one effect: to outrage American citizens and build resolve for victory in Iraq.
No political operative, no matter how twisted, is stupid enough to think that an appeal to surrender will ever gain popular support in America.
Why? Because it never has, not even in Vietnam. That was not a surrender of the American people or American soldiers, but our leaders, to their eternal shame.
Ads like undermine John Kerry far more than they hurt George W. Bush, and Moveon.org knows it.
This is yet another example illustrating a careful, if not subtle, campaign on the part of the Clintons to position Hillary for a presidential run in 2008.
Doing so means ensuring that John Kerry never sits in the oval office, and that's what this is really all about.
Yeah, I guess in Hungary they would understand how when Americans see images of our soldiers surrendering it makes us feel like grabbing our guns and going to help.
I don't think this is going to help Kerry or MoveOn's mission.
Kerry as president would probably surrender, just like the French, to any terrorist that showed his ugly head?
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