HONOLULU, August 23, 2005  -  Delegates to the nation's largest wartime veterans organization meeting here in national convention today vowed to use whatever means necessary to ensure the united support of the American people for our troops and the global war on terrorism.

"Warriors, above all other people, pray for peace, for they must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war,' said Thomas P. Cadmus, national commander of The American Legion referring to Gen. Douglas MacArthur's quote. "We had hoped that the lessons learned from the Vietnam War would be clear to our fellow citizens: public protests against the war here at home while our young men and women are in harm's way on the other side of the globe only provide aid and comfort to our enemies. We understand that the terrorists they are engaging there would slit the throats of every American, adult and child, if they could.'

The resolution passed unanimously by 4,000 delegates to the annual event states: "The American Legion fully supports the President of the United States, the United States Congress and the men, women, and leadership of our armed forces as they are engaged in the global war on terrorism.'

"For many of us, the visions of Jane Fonda glibly spouting anti-American messages with the North Vietnamese and protestors denouncing our own forces four decades ago is forever etched in our memories,' Cadmus said. "We must never let that happen again. I assure you, The American Legion will stand against anyone and any group that would demoralize our troops, or worse, endanger their lives by encouraging terrorists to continue their cowardly attacks against freedom loving peoples.'

The measure recognizes that the global war on terrorism is as deadly as any war in which the United States has been previously engaged and that the President and Congress did authorize military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

"No one respects the right to protest more than one who has fought for it, but we hope that Americans will present their views in correspondence to their elected officials rather than by public media events guaranteed to be picked up and used as tools of encouragement by our enemies," Cadmus said. "It would be tragic if the freedoms our veterans fought so valiantly to protect would be used against their successors today as they battle terrorists bent on our destruction.

"Let's not repeat the mistakes of our past,' he added. 'I urge all Americans to rally around our armed forces and remember our fellow Americans who were viciously murdered on Sept. 11, 2001. We must commit ourselves to stand united together to defeat terrorism once and forever.'

The 2.7 million-member American Legion is the nation's largest veterans organization.

Commentary:
During the Clinton presidency, the American Legion gave "aid and comfort" to the enemy by openly opposing a sitting president during a time of war. They are hypocrites. This news release and their letter to President Clinton are included so readers can decide if the Legion is intellectually consistent.

The words "aid and comfort" to the enemy are from the Constitution. They are the words used to define "treason."

The American Legion falsely assumes (lies) when it equates the war on terror with the war in Iraq. Clearly the Legion isn't capable of knowing this simple truth. One has to wonder why. Perhaps a better question is how did this type of idiocy and intellectual inconsistency become ingrained in so many people?