Kerry's SFRC hearing tomorrow featuring Afghan vets

[beachmom]

I came across one diary on this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/22/723144/-Hearing:-SOLDIERS-STORIES-FROM-THE-AFGHAN-WAR

And this BG article:

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/04/22/no_counterparts_to_the_young_kerry_at_war_hearing/

No counterparts to the young Kerry at war hearing

Senator's panel to call Afghanistan veterans

WASHINGTON - Thirty-eight years ago today, a soldier fresh from Vietnam riveted the nation by recounting the horrors of a far-away war, famously asking the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

The speech by 27-year-old John Kerry launched his rise from antiwar protester to presidential nominee to chairman of that very same powerful committee.

Tomorrow Senator Kerry will listen as veterans of the war in Afghanistan shine a spotlight on a conflict that a small but growing number of Americans are beginning to question, even as President Obama increases troops. But in a sign of how much Kerry - and the country - has changed since 1971, tomorrow's hearings will feature few - if any - dramatic calls for withdrawal.

Kerry's committee did not invite any witness from the Iraq Veterans Against the War, the modern-day analog of the antiwar group he represented when he testified in 1971. That group, which includes Afghanistan war veterans, has called for an end to the Afghan war. At least three out of the four Afghan war veterans who will testify tomorrow oppose a US withdrawal.

Kerry himself, now an elder statesman and key ally of the president, has resisted drawing parallels with Vietnam.

"In Vietnam, there was no threat to the United States in any direct form whatsoever," Kerry said in a recent telephone interview. "The consequence of not being in Vietnam was in no way to increase the danger to America. The exact opposite is true in Afghanistan with Al Qaeda. The threat is very real."

The IVAW guys are mad. I think it showed good judgment not to include them.

[beachmom]

1. This is a really good article. This is interesting:

O'Brien is in the IVAW group.

But Kerry did not invite O'Brien, who opposes both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, even though Kerry invited O'Brien to stay at his Nantucket home in 2006 during a film festival featuring an antiwar documentary that O'Brien was in.

Last year, O'Brien organized his own Winter Soldier hearings featuring testimony from soldiers about how "extremely loose rules of engagement" and air strikes in Afghanistan kill civilians and alienate the population.

"I think we presented clear evidence that soldiers were being ordered to do terrible things," he said. "But there wasn't much of a response."

Members of the group testified before the Congressional Progressive Caucus, but have never been invited to an official hearing.

A spokesman for Kerry's office said he is "looking for perspectives from troops who have spent time on the ground, without regard to their opinions about the war overall."

In an interview, Kerry said it is important "to let democracy work, in terms of airing differences and options."

Kerry is calling one witness who will urge a dramatic policy shift: Andrew Bacevich, a Boston University professor and Vietnam veteran who lost a son in Iraq.

The reason why I say it was probably best to not invite the IVAW guys is that they are kind of undisciplined and emotional. I understand their anger, but that kind of testimony will not help in this day and age.