Did everyone see the letter The Am Legion sent Clinton re Bosnia?

[Jack from Charlotte]

"..... urges immediate withdrawal of American troops....."



Dear Mr. President:
The American Legion, a wartime veterans organization of nearly three-million members, urges the immediate withdrawal of American troops participating in "Operation Allied Force.''

The National Executive Committee of The American Legion, meeting in Indianapolis today, adopted Resolution 44, titled "The American Legion's Statement on Yugoslavia.'' This resolution was debated and adopted unanimously.

Mr. President, the United States Armed Forces should never be committed to wartime operations unless the following conditions are fulfilled:


That there be a clear statement by the President of why it is in our vital national interests to be engaged in hostilities;

Guidelines be established for the mission, including a clear exit strategy;

That there be support of the mission by the U.S. Congress and the American people; and

That it be made clear that U.S. Forces will be commanded only by U.S. officers whom we acknowledge are superior military leaders.
It is the opinion of The American Legion, which I am sure is shared by the majority of Americans, that three of the above listed conditions have not been met in the current joint operation with NATO ("Operation Allied Force'').

In no case should America commit its Armed Forces in the absence of clearly defined objectives agreed upon by the U.S. Congress in accordance with Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution of the United States.

Sincerely,
Harold L. "Butch'' Miller,
National Commander

American Legion
Letter to President Clinton
May 5, 1999

[SammyWinstonJack]

1. Hypocrites. n/t

[walldude]

2. Yeah withdraw from Bosnia where we lost exactly..

0 troops... Assholes. There is a list of Republican quotes about "Clintons War" somewhere on Crooks and Liars.. it's quite the read..

[Chocolatebison]

18. I thought we lost some troops in helicopter crashes

[LSK]

3. heard about it on Malloy n/t

[Rainscents]

5. He read it over the air! Malloy was pisst!!!

[LSK]

6. yep, im listening to his archived broadcast from last night

[NewJeffCT]

4. flip-flop, flip-flop

wow, what stunning hypocrisy - and, it was adopted UNANIMOUSLY.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

7. Good find. nt

[RobertSeattle]

8. Here's the whole resolution

NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE--THE AMERICAN LEGION
May 5, 1999
Resolution No. 44: THE AMERICAN LEGION STATEMENT ON YUGOSLAVIA

Whereas, The President has committed the Armed Forces of the United States, in a joint operation with NATO (``Operation Allied Force''), to engage in hostilities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia without clearly defining America's vital national interests; and

Whereas, Neither the President nor the Congress have defined America's objectives in what has become an open-ended conflict characterized by an ill-defined progressive escalation; and

Whereas, It is obvious that an ill-planned and massive commitment of U.S. resources could only lead to troops being killed, wounded or captured without advancing any clear purpose, mission or objective; and

Whereas, The American people rightfully support the ending of crimes and abuses by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the extending of humanitarian relief to the suffering people of the region; and

Whereas, America should not commit resources to the prosecution of hostilities in the absence of clearly defined objectives agreed upon by the U.S. Congress in accordance with Article I Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, By the National Executive Committee of The American Legion in regular meeting assembled in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 5-6, 1999, That The American Legion, which is composed of nearly 3 million veterans of war-time service, voices its grave concerns about the commitment of U.S. Armed Forces to Operation Allied Force, unless the following conditions are fulfilled:

That there be a clear statement by the President of why it is in our vital national interests to be engaged in Operation Allied Force;

Guidelines be established for the mission, including a clear exit strategy;

That there be support of the mission by the U.S. Congress and the American people; and

That it be made clear U.S. Forces will be commanded only by U.S. officers whom we acknowledge are superior military leaders; and, be it further

Resolved, That, if the aforementioned conditions are not met, The American Legion calls upon the President and the Congress to withdraw American forces immediately from Operation Allied Force; and, be it further

Resolved, That The American Legion calls upon the Congress and the international community to ease the suffering of the Kosovar refugees by providing necessary aid and assistance; and, be it finally

Resolved, That The American Legion reaffirms its unwavering admiration of, and support for, our American men and women serving in uniform throughout the world, and we reaffirm our efforts to provide sufficient national assets to ensure their well being.


http://www.mcsm.org/legion2.html

[tonkatoy57]

9. That's A Riot

Boy, if you ever needed evidence that the American Legion isn't a disinterested party only concerned for the well being of troops in the field, well there it is.
It certainly looks like somebody has an agenda.
Too bad the crack reporters who covered yesterdays story concerning the Legions press release in support of the * Administration policy In Iraq didn't include this interesting little tidbit.
Jeez.

[NewJeffCT]

12. welcome to DU

and, "crack reporters" or is it reporters on crack?

[newyawker99]

15. Hi tonkatoy57!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Neocondriac]

10. Just a peek......

into the origins of the American Legion will find that it was brought about by the robber barrons to squelch organized labor way back when. When you feel your empire threatened hire a bunch of thugs and put a happy name on their lapels and turn them lose.

[JHB]

11. What's Butch saying these days?

:hide:

[Cocoa]

13. I didn't realize this about the American Legion

I didn't have any particular idea of what they were, I just thought it was a veterans' organization.

Now it's clear they're a branch of the GOP. :puke:

[happyslug]

14. The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Ve

The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the Disabled American Vet (DAV) are your top three Veterans Organizations (They are some minor Veterans Organizations for example Catholic War Veterans, but all of these are small compared to the big three).

The American Legions has ALWAYS been tied in with the Republican Party. The VFW while still right wing leans to the Democrats. DAV is made up of veterans who were combat injured and thus more radical than the other two groups when it comes to Veteran Benefits.

Veterans of Foreign Wars . The oldest of these three, going back to 1899. The VFW used the Term "Foreign Wars" to exclude Civil War Veterans. Most Northern Civil War Veterans had been members of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The GAR since its founding in 1866 had been a branch of the Republican Party. The VFW did NOT WANT to be so partisan so excluded the Civil War Vets. Thus the VFW has always been more neutral than the American Legion when it comes to Politics. While the VFW had a lot of members when it was founded but the GAR was still the biggest Veterans group in 1899 given the HUGH numbers of Civil War Veterans. This changed over the next 20 years as the GAR slowly aged.
For more on the VFW go to their Web Site:
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm

American Legion (Founded by Theodore Roosevelt's son, after WWI). After WWI the GOP found that the GAR membership were to old to be useful (It had been almost 60 years since the start of the Civil War so most GAR members were then over 80 years of age). The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War were NOT as active as their father's had been so the GOP looked for someone else to form into an arm of the GOP, that became the American Legion.
The American Legion Web Site:
http://www.legion.org/

Disable American Veterans (Founded Judge Marx, a Jewish Ohio Democrat). The DAV concentrates on benefits for service connected disabled Veterans and in many ways does a better job than the VFW regarding benefits for Service Connected veterans (And the reason they were recently kicked out of some Military Hospitals, they are just pro-active when it comes to helping service connected injured Veterans).
DAV's web Site:
http://www.dav.org/
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/vetsorg.htm
(This gives a background on what the DAV and VFW did to get benefits for WWI Veterans and than a statement that the American Legion also assisted but cited the Centralia Washington Massacre as why the American Legion was NOT given equal Credit. Now in reality the American Legion did support benefits for Veterans, but more as a "me to" organization than as an organization pushing for those benefits, but the article was trying to the best light on all three organizations):

For more on the Centralia Massacre and the American Legion see:
http://content.lib.washington.edu/iwwweb/read.html/

For more on the DAV being denied access to Veterans Hospitals:
http://www.dav.org/news/news_20040107.html


Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (Successor organization to the Grand Army of the Republic, GAR):
http://suvcw.org/

[bribri16]

16. Send it on to the RW talk show hosts. Give them some sleepless nights

Anyone find any quotes from Rush during Bosnis and Kosovo?

[hippiegranny]

17. Sounds like the A.L.

is "playing politics." Supposedly a terrible thing if a grieving mother does it, but not these guys? Phuckerz.

[Bonhomme Richard]

19. I sent a copy of that to the national commander. N/T