Our good friend, Iraq vet and anti-war leader John Bruhns, follows up on his Philadelphia Daily News op-ed blasting "anti-war phonies". The new piece is called "Courage of my Convictions." Here is an excerpt:
When I joined the military I did so to preserve the freedom of ALL Americans regardless of race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, and political party affiliation. Under the tragic presidency of George W. Bush those very same freedoms have all been tampered with - the war in Iraq, Katrina, the outing of CIA operatives, domestic spying, the fanatical religious right-wing, the persecution of gay people by Bush and his loyalist in Congress, and all dissenters of Bush's view of the world labeled as traitors, cowards, and cut and run terrorist sympathizers.This is not the America I volunteered my life for. So now I feel compelled to do everything in my capacity to reclaim it and restore our democracy. I realize that I am only one man and I can only do so much. But if every single American shared this view we would be an overwhelming Army of people who have the power to take our country back.
Patriotism is not only displayed through military service, waving the flag, or cheering on your nation's President. And it is certainly not standing idle while your President wages an unnecessary war that is killing our troops and running our nation into a debt that will last for decades. It is as simple as the willingness of an individual to fight for the betterment of their country in all stretches of the imagination.
Thank you for fighting for your country, John. And thank you for sticking to the "courage of your convictions."