Why do the Giants get a parade but not Iraq war vets?
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has long expressed his regret that the United States did not do a better job honoring veterans of the Vietnam War in the 1970s, has cited advice from the Pentagon in deciding it was not appropriate to hold a parade while American soldiers are still fighting in Afghanistan.
But a growing coalition of veterans, elected officials and other public figures are disagreeing, saying it is time to celebrate the men and women who served in Iraq.
Leslie H. Gelb, the president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, a former correspondent for The New York Times and a board member of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, called the Pentagon’s position “supercilious sensitivity” and “Washington-think.”…
Adam J. Berinsky, an associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author of “In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion From World War II to Iraq,” said military leaders could be worried about a public relations gaffe. He recalled former President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech on May 1, 2003, in which Mr. Bush declared major combat operations in Iraq to be over.
“I’m sure that the military is very sensitive to that,” Dr. Berinsky said. “If we’re going to have a celebration for the end of the war, let’s make sure that we actually have an end of the war.”
Blowback
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Yeah mandatory honoring of troops/// Kinda loses its effectiveness if you have to “force” troops to deal with a parade you throw. Just a thought…
melle1228 on February 7, 2012 at 10:29 AM
Do you idiots not know how to read or are you unaware that RM is a liberal. Time to update your generic talking points.
tmchugh on February 7, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Yeah so? Great one liberal calling for a parade. As a military family member, I don’t want a parade. I just want all you people who were “against the war” to stop bitchin while my husband is fighting it.. MMMkay!
melle1228 on February 7, 2012 at 10:34 AM
WTH are you talking about? What mandatory honoring? I bet you start bitching at people who throw a surprise party for someone they love and hold dear.
NotCoach on February 7, 2012 at 10:35 AM
Because New Yorkers care more about beating Boston in sports than about almost anything else.
rockmom on February 7, 2012 at 10:36 AM
Yeah so? One liberal who is calling for a parade that no one really wants. As a military family member, I don’t care if you organize a parade. What would have been better and more substantial is if all the liberals had quit whining while my husband was trying to fight the war. Try not making it more difficult on the guys over there instead of celebrating something you griped about the whole time it was going on.. Mmmkay?
melle1228 on February 7, 2012 at 10:37 AM
Two military members who fought there said they didn’t want a parade. You told them- tough. Honoring someone kinda loses its effectiveness when you don’t respect the person you are supposed to be honoring. Maybe over your head, but there it is.
melle1228 on February 7, 2012 at 10:39 AM
I think the problem here is that you fail to appreciate what a parade or party is all about. Those being honored are just about always gracious enough to put up with it even if they are a bit uncomfortable. I think they understand the parade or party is just as much about the people throwing it as the people being honored.
NotCoach on February 7, 2012 at 10:46 AM
I respect their opinion.
On the other hand, two people don’t speak for all people.
Pick your poison.
Good Lt on February 7, 2012 at 10:50 AM
LOL. Nice try. This is the same stupidity we hear from leftists about Jon Stewart…he mocks Democrats too, therefore he isn’t biased.
1 liberal wants a parade for every 100 who don’t.
Stewart does 1 bit about Obama for every 100 he did about Bush.
In libtardville this equates to liberals support the military and Stewart is unbiased.
angryed on February 7, 2012 at 10:53 AM
I just don’t like being a political pawn, that’s all. Nothing against parades.
gator70 on February 7, 2012 at 10:57 AM
I can appreciate that, but can you tell me when a parade isn’t political to some extent? Besides, the average person who supports this idea doesn’t care about the politics and really just wants you guys to know how much you are appreciated.
NotCoach on February 7, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Your support is exactly what I was speaking of in my original post and it is appreciated. I will concede the parade but I wanna ride in a car with Rosie Huntington Whitely!
gator70 on February 7, 2012 at 11:16 AM
Lol. I’ll see what I can do.
NotCoach on February 7, 2012 at 11:22 AM
One parade was held some place in Missouri and those Veterans who wanted to participate or even show up were able to. It is their choice. There are lots of ways to show appreciation to those men and women volunteers without asking permission of Bloomberg or any Lib who made the troops’ job more difficult by blasting the effort and saying we need to retreat.
democratsarefools on February 7, 2012 at 11:26 AM
So its liberals fault that there’s no parade, a parade that military members don’t even want, so its also liberals fault for demanding a parade. That about sum it up?
libfreeordie on February 7, 2012 at 11:45 AM
NotCoach, gator70, melle1228 and GoodLt (yep, really) all understandable sentiment and great comments.
libfreeordie, you’re still welcome to plant one on our collective 4th points of contact.
hawkdriver on February 7, 2012 at 11:50 AM
True. And it goes back to the biggest point gator made that rings true for me. And it’s that it already occurs. Great folks (and not just from America) already do a ton of stuff for people serving and disabled vets. There were exchanges on Hot Air that led to my detachment getting literally bombarded with care and Christmas packages just by Hot Air regulars on my last deployment. Quality, caring stuff from UpinAK, Cindy Munford and just a ton of other folks. We were literally adopted by them.
Having said that, the same process netted a ton of the most hateful email that I have ever seen by other folks that took advantage of an address I posted when those folks asked to be able to contact me.
hawkdriver on February 7, 2012 at 11:59 AM
Could it be that Bloomberg doesn’t want a parade to honor military members because they carry guns?
billsheck on February 7, 2012 at 12:03 PM
The Pentagon story is hooey. Coming home is coming home. If Bloomberg had blooms, he would hold the parade anyway. He would have to love these boys like his own brother, to want to welcome home the sons of our nation when they are truly coming home, and not hide behind a Pentagon script
Boomberg would only use the Pentagon story, if it was something he wanted to do anyway. He acted like King Kong on the Komen pink PP controversy. Yep, the Bloomer has no fear when it comes to fighting with your checkbook
entagor on February 7, 2012 at 12:18 PM
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