[Peace-discuss] Co-option of the anti-war movement

[C. G. Estabrook]

[AFAIK this hearing isn't even mentioned in the major papers.  In addition to 
what's quoted here, Bacevich offered "pragmatic" opposition to the war, because 
it's not worth the cost: "The mystical war against communism finds its 
counterpart in the mystical war on terrorism. As in the 1960s so, too, today: 
Mystification breeds misunderstanding and misjudgment. It prevents us from 
seeing things as they are. As a direct result, it leads us to exaggerate the 
importance of places like Afghanistan and indeed to exaggerate the jihadist 
threat, which falls well short of being existential ... With the long war 
already this nation’s second most expensive conflict, trailing only World War 
II, and with the federal government projecting trillion-dollar deficits for 
years go come, how much can we afford and where is the money coming from?”]

	CQPolitics
	April 23, 2009 – 8:17 p.m.
	Echoes of Vietnam in the Senate
	Foreign Relations Committee Hearing Room
	By Caitlin Webber, CQ Staff

Exactly 38 years after he testified against the Vietnam War before the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, now chairman of that panel, convened 
Afghanistan war veterans to offer opinions on the future of their generation’s 
conflict.

But while Kerry’s 1971 statement was unequivocally against the Nixon 
administration’s continuation of the war, in 2009 he finds himself in a more 
delicate position. He was an early and staunch supporter of President Obama, but 
has recently expressed skepticism about the administration’s new strategy for 
Afghanistan.

His proposal to triple non-military aid to Pakistan, backed by ranking 
Republican Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, has been delayed over differences with 
the White House on conditions for that money.

On Thursday he tried to refine his position on Obama’s new strategy.

“Let me be clear: There is much still to be done in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 
but our new focus creates a sense of determined optimism for us and our 
coalition allies,” Kerry said. “Better defined objectives should lead to a 
better battle plan for our troops. But this remains an immensely complicated task.”

Kerry reiterated his belief that the United States should not provide “a blank 
check” to either Afghanistan or Pakistan.

Lugar echoed the call from Kerry and many other members for more specifics on 
the administration’s plan.

“As the Obama administration devotes more resources and troops to Afghanistan, 
however, many details need to be fleshed out,” Lugar said.
Veterans’ Perspectives

Kerry was quick to resist analogies between Vietnam and Afghanistan on Thursday, 
but said some commonalities between the conflicts exist.

“Once again, we are fighting an insurgency in a rural country with a weak 
central government. Our enemy blends in with the local population and easily 
crosses a long border to find sanctuary in a neighboring country. We ignore 
these similarities at our peril,” he said.

The importance of veterans’ perspective is another lesson from the Vietnam War, 
Kerry said.

Three of the four veterans at the witness table spoke in support of a continuing 
combat presence in Afghanistan – although they also stressed the need for an 
expansion of its civilian commitment, in line with the Kerry-Lugar proposal.

However, one corporal from California called U.S. operations in the country an 
“occupation” and opposed Obama’s decision to boost troop levels by 17,000.

“Sending more troops will not make the U.S. safer, it will only build more 
opposition against us,” said Rick Reyes, who served with the Marines in both 
Afghanistan and Iraq.

Reyes’ statements were most similar to Kerry’s when he spoke on behalf of 
Vietnam Veterans Against the War as a 27-year-old recently returned soldier.

Boston University professor and a retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich observed 
that the starkest difference between the hearing Thursday and the one in 1971 is 
public disengagement.

“When the young John Kerry spoke, many of his contemporaries had angrily turned 
against their generation’s war. Today, most of the contemporaries of those 
fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have simply tuned out the Long War,” Bacevich 
said. “The predominant mood of the country is not one of anger or anxiety, but 
of dull acceptance.”

Kerry’s 1971 statement catapulted his early career, but would harm his 2004 
presidential campaign when a group of Vietnam veterans accused him of 
exaggerating his war record.

Antiwar protestors were conspicuously quiet on Thursday. Even Code Pink was subdued.

One pink-shirted protestor quietly held up a placard during the hearing with 
Kerry’s most famous line from his first congressional appearance —“How do you 
ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

Kerry never mentioned the sign during the hearing.

Caitlin Webber can be reached at cwebber at cq.com.

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