American Legion Condemns War Protests as 'Visions of Jane Fonda'

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American Legion Condemns War Protests as 'Visions of Jane Fonda'
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
August 24, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - Delegates to the American Legion's national convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, vowed Tuesday to use whatever means necessary to "ensure the united backing of the American people to support our troops and the global war on terrorism."

"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," said Thomas Cadmus, national commander of the 2.7-million-member organization.

While never mentioning Cindy Sheehan by name even though the "anti-war mom" has said she will soon return to Crawford, Texas, to continue her protest against President Bush and the war in Iraq, the group did point to another woman who gained fame by protesting U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

"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," he stated. "We must never let that happen again."

Quoting Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Cadmus noted: "The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

"We had hoped that the lessons learned from the Vietnam War would be clear to our fellow citizens," Cadmus stated. "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.

"Understand that the terrorists they are engaging there would slit the throats of every American, adult and child, if they could," he added.

Resolution 3, which was passed unanimously by 4,000 delegates to the annual event, states: "The American Legion fully supports the president of the Untied 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 and the troops who are engaged in protecting our values and way of life.

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," he added. "Let's not repeat the mistakes of our past.

"I urge all Americans to rally around our armed forces and remember our fellow Americans who were viciously murdered on Sept. 11, 2001," Cadmus said. "We must commit ourselves to stand united together to defeat terrorism once and forever."