WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- A U.S. Iraq war veteran and activist Monday accused President Bush of "misfeasance" on conducting the war in Iraq.
"It's no longer incompetence from the president -- it's misfeasance in office. Members of Congress are flat out wrong to rubber stamp that," Jon Soltz, Iraq war veteran and chairman and co-founder of VoteVets.org, said in a statement marking the fourth anniversary of the beginning of military operations to topple Saddam Hussein on March 19, 2003.
"Four years, tens of thousands of my fellow troops dead and wounded, a decimated military, increasing violence, a deteriorating political situation, and Osama bin Laden smiling and eating lamb chops somewhere in Pakistan -- that is the legacy of this misguided war in Iraq," Soltz said.
"Almost four years ago, I went to Iraq believing that this was a war of necessity," Soltz said." However now, the war "has affected our military readiness. It has burned our troops down to the wick. The war in Iraq pulled people hunting Osama bin Laden to referee a civil war thousands of miles away," he said.
"The only people who have not learned a single lesson are President Bush and many in Congress. After four years of increasing violence, more American deaths, a military stretched to the breaking point, and no capture of bin Laden, they propose to do just more of the same," Soltz said.
VoteVets.org describes itself as "a pro-military organization committed to the destruction of terror networks around the world, with force when necessary. It represents the Voice of America's 21 Century Patriots -- those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. It primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on behalf of troops, veterans and their families."
