Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
January 23, 2007
Pg. 7
Members of Congress proud of family who serve but conflicted about war
By Kathy Kiely, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., lost his nephew, Philip, in Iraq. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., says his son, Alan, had two close calls: one from an improvised explosive device, the other from a sniper.
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., credits his nightly prayers with his son Perry's narrow escape from a mortar attack in Fallujah.
Almost four years into the war, the conflict in Iraq has begun to touch some of the lawmakers who authorized it in a very personal way.
That reality — which stands in stark contrast to the popular stereotype of Congress — will be embodied tonight by Sen. Jim Webb, the Virginia Democrat delivering the response to President Bush's State of the Union address.
Webb's eldest son, Jimmy, is a Marine in the combat zone. He can't bring himself to talk about his son — not even to the president — but others speak eloquently of their loved ones' sacrifices.
"I understand and sympathize with the Americans who continue to support this war because they do not want their family and friends to have died in vain," Baucus said of his nephew's death in a Senate speech Feb. 10. "I know what it is like to pray for a reason and to become determined not to lose."
Perceptions of Congress
In his 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, filmmaker Michael Moore showed members of Congress sputtering as he put a camera in their faces and asked whether they'd send their children to Iraq. In arguing for a reinstatement of the military draft, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., suggested his colleagues were out of touch when they authorized the war. "I continue to believe that decision-makers would never have supported the invasion if more of them had family members in line for deployment," he wrote in a column last fall.
At least nine members of Congress have sons or daughters who have served in Iraq, according to the U.S. Senate Library. A tenth, Sen. John McCain, faces the possibility that his youngest son, Jimmy, will go there this year.
Like other Americans in similar situations, the lawmakers are torn by powerful emotions. "We worried every day, but that did not take away from our pride," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., whose stepson, Douglas Lehtinen and his wife, Lindsey, are Marine fighter pilots. They ended an eight-month tour of duty in Iraq last year; Lindsey Lehtinen may be headed back there this year, Ros-Lehtinen said.
It's difficult to determine exactly how many lawmakers have had relatives in Iraq because some don't want to talk about it. In part it's because they don't want to appear to be seeking special treatment; in part it's out of security concerns. "When Perry was actually in Fallujah, I didn't want to mention the location to make him some sort of higher-value target," Akin said.
The number of lawmakers with relatives involved in the war is probably lower than in past conflicts, congressional historians say, in part because there are fewer soldiers involved. Compared with Vietnam, Korea and World War II, "this is a fairly limited conflict," said Ray Smock, director of the Robert C. Byrd legislative resource center at Shepherd University.
Members of Congress with Iraq veterans in the family are as divided as the rest of the country over the war. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., cited his niece and nephew, who both enlisted in the Marines, in a speech where he expressed misgivings about the president's plan to send more troops to Iraq. Baucus and Webb are also against it.
Others say they will support the Bush plan — with varying degrees of enthusiasm. "I'm a reluctant supporter," said Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo. The congressman's brother-in-law, Ryan Howell, is an Army major. Howell is back in the USA, and Hulshof said their talks over the family dinner table helped persuade him to back the Bush plan as a "last-ditch effort" to stabilize Iraq.
Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., whose son Sam is scheduled to return to Iraq for his second tour of duty this spring as the head of a Marine scout sniper platoon, is less equivocal. Bond said his son has convinced him that "pulling out early downgrades and denigrates the sacrifices that we've made."
Messages from the war
Members of Congress sometimes get bulletins from their relatives on the front lines. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., passed his Blackberry down the dais during House Armed Services Committee hearings, so his colleagues could read the latest message from his son, Alan, an Army reservist who spent a year in Iraq.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who chaired the panel last year, said he was in a hearing when his son, also named Duncan, called him on a satellite phone during a battle in Fallujah.
The younger Hunter was "very unhappy," his father said, because the Marines were being ordered to stop attacking. "So I called up the Pentagon," the congressman said.
Lawmakers say having loved ones in Iraq makes them more sensitive to the war's implications. "When the early morning news comes on and says 'Marines killed in Iraq,' your stomach tightens," Bond said. Members of Congress insist, however, that their personal ties don't affect their decisions.
Baucus said he decided to oppose the president's proposal to increase troop levels because "our plan's not working," not because of his nephew's death. Hulshof said he voted for the 2002 resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq even though his brother-in-law was on maneuvers in Kuwait and "I knew my vote was going to put him in the middle of things."
Webb, a Vietnam War combat veteran, said members of Congress should weigh their decisions with equal care whether it is their flesh and blood on the line or their constituents'. "Every single person up here should act like they have somebody over there," he said.
January 23, 2007
Pg. 7
Members of Congress proud of family who serve but conflicted about war
By Kathy Kiely, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., lost his nephew, Philip, in Iraq. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., says his son, Alan, had two close calls: one from an improvised explosive device, the other from a sniper.
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., credits his nightly prayers with his son Perry's narrow escape from a mortar attack in Fallujah.
Almost four years into the war, the conflict in Iraq has begun to touch some of the lawmakers who authorized it in a very personal way.
That reality — which stands in stark contrast to the popular stereotype of Congress — will be embodied tonight by Sen. Jim Webb, the Virginia Democrat delivering the response to President Bush's State of the Union address.
Webb's eldest son, Jimmy, is a Marine in the combat zone. He can't bring himself to talk about his son — not even to the president — but others speak eloquently of their loved ones' sacrifices.
"I understand and sympathize with the Americans who continue to support this war because they do not want their family and friends to have died in vain," Baucus said of his nephew's death in a Senate speech Feb. 10. "I know what it is like to pray for a reason and to become determined not to lose."
Perceptions of Congress
In his 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, filmmaker Michael Moore showed members of Congress sputtering as he put a camera in their faces and asked whether they'd send their children to Iraq. In arguing for a reinstatement of the military draft, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., suggested his colleagues were out of touch when they authorized the war. "I continue to believe that decision-makers would never have supported the invasion if more of them had family members in line for deployment," he wrote in a column last fall.
At least nine members of Congress have sons or daughters who have served in Iraq, according to the U.S. Senate Library. A tenth, Sen. John McCain, faces the possibility that his youngest son, Jimmy, will go there this year.
Like other Americans in similar situations, the lawmakers are torn by powerful emotions. "We worried every day, but that did not take away from our pride," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., whose stepson, Douglas Lehtinen and his wife, Lindsey, are Marine fighter pilots. They ended an eight-month tour of duty in Iraq last year; Lindsey Lehtinen may be headed back there this year, Ros-Lehtinen said.
It's difficult to determine exactly how many lawmakers have had relatives in Iraq because some don't want to talk about it. In part it's because they don't want to appear to be seeking special treatment; in part it's out of security concerns. "When Perry was actually in Fallujah, I didn't want to mention the location to make him some sort of higher-value target," Akin said.
The number of lawmakers with relatives involved in the war is probably lower than in past conflicts, congressional historians say, in part because there are fewer soldiers involved. Compared with Vietnam, Korea and World War II, "this is a fairly limited conflict," said Ray Smock, director of the Robert C. Byrd legislative resource center at Shepherd University.
Members of Congress with Iraq veterans in the family are as divided as the rest of the country over the war. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., cited his niece and nephew, who both enlisted in the Marines, in a speech where he expressed misgivings about the president's plan to send more troops to Iraq. Baucus and Webb are also against it.
Others say they will support the Bush plan — with varying degrees of enthusiasm. "I'm a reluctant supporter," said Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo. The congressman's brother-in-law, Ryan Howell, is an Army major. Howell is back in the USA, and Hulshof said their talks over the family dinner table helped persuade him to back the Bush plan as a "last-ditch effort" to stabilize Iraq.
Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., whose son Sam is scheduled to return to Iraq for his second tour of duty this spring as the head of a Marine scout sniper platoon, is less equivocal. Bond said his son has convinced him that "pulling out early downgrades and denigrates the sacrifices that we've made."
Messages from the war
Members of Congress sometimes get bulletins from their relatives on the front lines. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., passed his Blackberry down the dais during House Armed Services Committee hearings, so his colleagues could read the latest message from his son, Alan, an Army reservist who spent a year in Iraq.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who chaired the panel last year, said he was in a hearing when his son, also named Duncan, called him on a satellite phone during a battle in Fallujah.
The younger Hunter was "very unhappy," his father said, because the Marines were being ordered to stop attacking. "So I called up the Pentagon," the congressman said.
Lawmakers say having loved ones in Iraq makes them more sensitive to the war's implications. "When the early morning news comes on and says 'Marines killed in Iraq,' your stomach tightens," Bond said. Members of Congress insist, however, that their personal ties don't affect their decisions.
Baucus said he decided to oppose the president's proposal to increase troop levels because "our plan's not working," not because of his nephew's death. Hulshof said he voted for the 2002 resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq even though his brother-in-law was on maneuvers in Kuwait and "I knew my vote was going to put him in the middle of things."
Webb, a Vietnam War combat veteran, said members of Congress should weigh their decisions with equal care whether it is their flesh and blood on the line or their constituents'. "Every single person up here should act like they have somebody over there," he said.