Pardon me.......

The purpose of the American Legion is to foster patriotism and to work to ensure that veterans recieve all the benefits to which they are entitled. It has other purposes, too, but those two will do for a start.

I just received my latest copy of American Legion Magazine.... pardon me, while I throw up.

I'm almost 60. I have lived thru the Korean War (although I only vaguely remember it) and fought in Vietnam. I have clear memories of our other conflicts in between and since. I remember well how divided my country was during Vietnam and I remember how the public confused the soldier with the war. I remember our troops coming home and being spat upon. I will work hard to insure that doesn't happen again.

But, the American Legion is once again confusing patriotism with blind faith in a President. That blind faith is what got us into trouble in Vietnam and its happening again. The "America, love it or leave it!" B.S. is coming thru, again, loud and clear. The Legion Commanders seem determined to make those of us who oppose what is happening, who believe we are better than we are behaving at Gitmo, who belive that the best way to support our troops is to bring them home before more of them die is a senseless conflict... into anti-patriotic, leftist, anti-American, Communist dupes.

I read the Legion magazine and find only opinions which support President Bush's position. It blindly supports what he says, even in the face of evidence that he is wrong. It is following the party line that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and that Iraq had WMDs... even in the face of convincing evidence that both are untrue. And it is trying hard to marginalize those of us who, having fought for our country, believe that, this time, we're wrong.

Blindly following what the President of the United States tells us is not an example of patriotism. It is, at best, Jingoism. I belong to both the American Legion and the VFW. But I have tired of picking up the Legion's magazine and seeing how it ignores both reality and the fact that many of its members are not in support of this war. I am astounded that it can ignore how public sentiment, including that of Vietnam War heroes, in support of a President who, at best, was mislead by CIA, or, at worse, deliberately lied to the American public.

Does anyone really think the American people would have supported a war in Iraq with the sole purpose of "regime change?" Of course they wouldn't have. Some other excuse had to be made and, in this case, it was that Iraq posed a clear and present danger to our security. Now, in the face of evidence that both Iran and North Korea do pose a clear and present danger, it is going to be extremely difficult to convince the American people of a need to fight them. Real dangers are going to go unfought.. because we were lied to. And the American Legion needs to take note of that fact.

They do no one any favors by marginalizing those of their members who oppose the war in Iraq. They only make certain that more American servicemen and women will die to no purpose. And that, my friends, is sickening. I am making it a point to round file American Legion Magazine until this war is over. I don't need their help in throwing up.