Monday, July 02, 2007

Consider the Source, Part 2

If you've been following the conversation, Rick the Mouseherder continued his smear against Lt. Pete Hegseth's service to our country and I offered a few of my thoughts, on this topic and others, in the comment section of my earlier article.

But I didn't stop there, I also decided to contact Mr. Hegseth and invite him to read my blog where he was impugned. He did and was polite enough to write back. In part he said:

…Sourcewatch is very good at providing instant—and erroneous—ammunition to angry lefties.

Yes, I am conservative. Yes, I am in the National Guard. And yes, outside of any political affiliation I have, I believe in our country’s mission in Iraq. And I find it interesting that Rick claims that I only “fooled around in the Army.” Far from being forced to go to Iraq, I volunteered. In fact, in 2005 I fought for 6 weeks to get from the National Guard to Active Duty for a year so I could deploy with the 101st Airborne to Iraq. For all intents and purposes, I scratched and clawed my way to Iraq, eager to join the fight. I also volunteered knowing that I would be an infantry platoon leader for the first 6 months. That meant leading 40 men during combat missions and patrols in hostile territory. If that’s Rick’s idea of “fooling around,” then he needs to get a better hobby. In addition, I volunteered to become a Civil-Military Operations officer for the battalion as well, which entailed almost daily patrols into the heart of Samarra, meeting with rival factions and putting great trust in Iraqi allies. And today I’m still in the National Guard, which could mean another deployment.

Rick needs to do his research, rather than regurgitating the partisan banter the folks on Sourcewatch love to spread…
Thank you Mr. Hegseth for your service and your patience with people who slander you behind your back.

Mr. Hegseth suggested (and I do too) that everyone read the most recent Michael Yon report. This is what we're fighting against.

1 comment:

rick the mouseherder said...

1. Pete doesn't specifically refute any of the information at SourceWatch, only denigrates the site. Which parts are inaccurate? Does he not work for the Manhattan Institute? Is it not run by a GOP-tied PR firm? Is not most of its funding from the GOP? My gripe with Pete is not that he's conservative, it's that he tries to make his vet group sound like a grassroots operation. It's spin, pure and simple.

2. If Pete were "eager to join the fight", he'd be in the regular Army. And I doubt he'd have to "I scratched and clawed my way to Iraq" as Junior company grade Officers like Pete are in dire short supply in the Army, since they are leaving the service in droves. Come to think of it, why aren't you in uniform, Thuymper, if you believe in this cause so much? Age limit is up to 43 yoa now for first-time enlistments. Or are you only willing to let other people die for your lost cause?