There has been a lot of talk about IVAW’s membership numbers and why, if they are over a thousand strong, do we keep seeing the same faces of never deployed attention mongers like Matthis “The Army made me a rapist” Chiroux and other non-combat vets. Is IVAW lying about their numbers? While I wouldn’t put much past them in terms of integrity, I don’t think they are flat out lying. The answer is something much more personal. Many true Iraq Veterans who where a part of the organization have simply stopped being active. They do not consider themselves in the organization anymore, but don’t write big long resignation letters like I did, they just walked away.
The kind of people I met who were a part of IVAW when I joined where good people. I met many good vets who, while disagreeing with war, where not Anti-American, burn Capitalism to the ground, stand on the flag, and make a spectacle of yourself types. They didn’t hate the U.S. and A., they just hated what we where doing in Iraq because they had seen it first hand and acted on their moral courage and integrity. So if they feel so strongly about it, then why pack up shop and move on?
Because IVAW and the anti-war “movement” is rife with people seeking to use Service Men and Women to further other agendas altogether, or worse yet, to make money from them. You can’t bring these issues up with out bring up the International Socialist Organizations strangle hold on all things anti-war movement. I don’t hate people because they believe Socialism is a better way of life and advocate for it. I think they should be allowed to peruse what they believe in without interference. However, the ISO doesn’t feel the same way towards Veterans. We are nothing but a means to an end. Once again, I do not think all the Socialists I have met are evil or bad people. But they do belong to an organization that clearly uses subversive tactics to take over other groups. Clearly this is what has happened to IsoVAW… Oops, I mean IVAW. By their repeated actions IVAW has shown itself to be an organization that does not respects Veterans.
It’s easy for Chiroux and other non-combat vets to holler about how evil the war is because they do not have to re-live anything. When someone like myself, and other true vets of the war, set out to speak out it is because we care about the people in Iraq, and absolutely care about our friends who died. It takes a lot out of you and is very draining. Imagine having to tell and relive horrific stories over and over again in the hopes that it will amount to something positive just to see it used by others to give themselves a sense of self-worth and to push another, completely different agenda. I know a lot of real vets that are against the Iraq war, but don’t give a damn about Capitalism vs. Socialism. They want to shut this mess down, and get help for Soldiers, i.e. medical care, and move on with their lives.
I know some Service Members feel betrayed by the Military once they went to Iraq and saw the deal for themselves. But the anti-war movement betrays them again by using them to push another agenda. Sad thing is, the “movement” doesn’t see a problem with their actions. Proof of this can be found in their shinning endorsements of lawyers like James Branum, who destroys Soldiers futures, or Matthis Chiroux, who claims PTSD because he heard scary stories. How disrespectful to the real Vets out there who speak out the right way while on active duty, who do suffer from REAL PTSD, just to have their concerns and experiences tossed to the side in favor of not doing what is right to end the war, but to further the movements agenda.
So to avoid a mountain of hate mail, and yet another fight to right a wrong, many good people have chosen to move on. They still help other Vets, but not as a member of an organization. So yes, IVAW may have at one point been over a thousand strong, but it clear most people have chosen to leave quietly and put their association with them in the past. I think IVAW national knows this, but doesn’t really care. It also reflects in their numbers when they vote for board members. I brought up many of these issues time and time again in private with IVAW before I left. My concerns where treated with the same amount of consideration as Tiger Woods gives to martial fidelity.
Not all people in the anti-war movement are bad people. I’ve met many great people who truly care for Soldiers. However, the movement seems dominated by the negative classless grandstanders.
These wars will end, not in the way some want, but they will end. An added bonus to Peace is that all these people who use these wars to take in donations and pump themselves up will end up twisting in the wind. Their sense of self-worth will crumble. True, they will probably go out and protest other things, but where they stood out before, they will just be another anonymous protestor, nothing special anymore.
For us that risked and fought for our consideration and love for others, we will continue to move forward and kick mucho el ass-o in everything we do. Especially me.
Casey J Porter
