Senator Kerry posted at The Huffington Post today.
Boehner's Small PriceJust yesterday on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked John Boehner, the leader of the GOP in the House, this question (video on Horse's Mouth):
"The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?"
And Mr. Boehner responded:
"The investment that we're making today will be a small price if we're able to stop al Qaeda here, if we're able to stabilize the Middle East, it's not only going to be a small price for the near future, but think about the future for our kids and their kids."
What a stunningly cavalier statement about the lives of the young men and women who serve our country.
Whether you support or oppose the Bush escalation, no American should ever for even a moment think the cost of war is small.
A single life is a large price to pay for any endeavor. Sometimes, in our national interest, we choose to pay that awful price, but we must always make sure that the policy is worthy of it.
Visit our wounded warriors at Walter Reed hospital and ask whether the price they paid was small. Talk to the mothers, fathers, husbands and wives of those who have been killed and ask them to measure the price of war. Young lives stopped short, children who won't have a mother or father there as they grow up, when they graduate, when they get married -- that loss is many things, but it is not small.
Where is Representative Boehner's apology? And where is an Iraq policy equal to our soldiers' tremedous sacrifice?
Video Credit: TPM Veracifier
As Media Matters notes, Boehner's remarks last October blaming the generals on the ground instead of Rumsfeld or Bush for what's happening in Iraq went largely unreported by the traditional media. Will he get another pass? Or will the traditional media call the Republicans on their hypocrisy this time?
TPM followed up their earlier reporting with additional responses from Governor Dean and Rep. Chris Van Hollen on Rep. Boehner's insensitive and cruel remarks.
Since he's in Iraq, perhaps Mr. Boehner should tell the troops personally how little he thinks of them. And maybe we should all tell Mr. Boehner what we think of his remarks about our troops' sacrifice.
Comments (3)
Posted by ProSense | September 13, 2007 9:04 PM
Excellent post. Senator Kerry is right to condemn Boehner for saying that the lives of Americans (4,000) and Iraqis (hundreds of thousands) is a small price to pay for a war that should never have been waged.
Vile!
Posted by beachmom | September 14, 2007 10:32 AM
Response from Boehner (lame):
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/14/82040/4778
Update: We have a response from Kevin Smith, Boehner's communications director:
"Wolf asked about the money spent in Iraq, and that’s what Mr. Boehner was referring to when he said our troops’ efforts are critical for the safety and security of our country. To attempt to put a dollar figure on what we are doing in Iraq does a disservice to the work our troops are doing to make our children and theirs safer."
Smith added: "There isn’t a Member of Congress who appreciates the sacrifices of our troops more than Mr. Boehner. In fact, the reason he visited Iraq was to thank our troops for their service on behalf of our country and take a firsthand look at the progress on the ground that Democrats are so desperate to ignore. He had lunch with troops from Ohio today. Mr. Boehner is doing everything he can to ensure our troops come home after victory, not defeat, and General Petraeus has outlined a responsible strategy to do just that."
Posted by wisteria | September 14, 2007 11:55 AM
Boehner was wrong either way. If he ignored Blitzer's comments about our troops sacrafices and just discussed the money aspect how callus is that? If he did in fact refer to our troops blood and lives as a "small price" to pay, which I think he actually did, then that is insensitive,insulting and cold also.
The man should apologize. Will he be made to by our wimpy party? No. They don't apparently know how to seize the moment and run with it.