American Legion, VFW Support Veto of "Blueprint for Disaster"

Via email:

Washington, DC (May 1, 2007) - "Sad but necessary," was the way The National Commander of The American Legion Paul A. Morin described President Bush's veto earlier today of an Iraq war-spending bill that included timelines for withdrawing troops from the region.

"The American Legion is glad that the president vetoed this irresponsible legislation but saddened that Congress let it get this far," Morin said. "First the House passed a blueprint for disaster and then the Senate passed a recipe for surrender. There can only be one commander in chief and he should be the one to determine when the mission is complete."

Morin said it is essential that Congress immediately pass a bill that the president can sign - one that contains the necessary funding but not the deadlines. "The troops need Congress to fund their mission. It is immoral for Congress to approve a military mission and then not want to pay for it once the troops are in harm's way. You can not possibly say `I support the troops but I don't want to pay for their bullets, beans and billeting while in combat.'"

Morin pointed out that the bill contained billions of dollars in unrelated pork. "The congressional leadership knew that the only way they could pass this cut-and-run proposal was to entice members to vote for funding unrelated projects. Congress needs to pass a serious funding bill to win the war and it needs to pass it now," Morin said.

Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Forces Iraq, has voiced concern that the timeline would send a message to the enemy to keep fighting. "Just a few months ago the Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. Petraeus to lead the Iraq mission. Let's give him a chance to succeed," Morin said. "We also can not send a message to our allies that we will abandon them in their time of need. We made that mistake in Vietnam and Somalia - examples that were cited by Osama bin Laden himself."

Founded in 1919, the 2.7 million-member American Legion is the nation's preeminent service organization for veterans of the U.S. armed forces, including active duty, National Guard and Reserves, and their families. A powerful voice for veterans in Washington, The American Legion drafted the original GI Bill and was instrumental in establishing the agency that today is the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs.