David Ball's Blog

With all due respect to John McCain

David in Charleston — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:56:12 EDT

10 October 2007

Senator John McCain,

Senator,

I had the honor to meet you in Charleston, South Carolina recently. I was the Air Force Flight Nurse that gave you a coin outside the Beth Israel Synagogue. At the time I did not have the opportunity to share with you my feelings about the direction for America.

Your service to the nation, both in the Navy and in Congress, has been exemplary. You are a decent, honorable and extremely qualified candidate and I supported your candidacy for President in 2000 but cannot this time and I want you to know why.

Our foreign policy since the September 11th attacks has, in my opinion, been misdirected, ineffective, and wrongheaded. There is a commonly held belief that Secretary Rumsfield chose to attack Iraq because he did not want to waste million dollar missiles attacking tents in the desert. If true this is hardly a reason to attack another country.

Since 9/11 we have made Gitmo and Abu Grab infamous, buried Pat Tillman and the Iraq Study Group report, and invaded a sovereign nation that has never attacked, or even threatened us. I represent a large number of Americans who feel the Administration mislead us about a link between Iraq and 9/11 and about WMD.

Now we are occupying the remnants of a country that the President insists is not in civil war. Americans now feel that “Shock and Awe” and “Mission Accomplished” might not have been such a great idea and we want out. We are told we need to patiently trade our lives (3600+), limbs (30,000+), and treasure ($500,000,000+). Sometimes it is to give them democracy, sometimes it is to keep the terrorist wolves from following us home, and sometimes because leaving too quickly endangers the lives of our servicemen.

We can chose any excuse we want to stay in Iraq but the one that makes my blood boil is the one you believe, that the reason to stay is Victory. The Administration reluctantly admits that intelligence over a span of 15 years has been faulty yet we have no problem swallowing that the 8 people we bombed from 20,000 feet in the middle of the night were definitely al Qaeda.

I had a conversation with a friend the other day who insisted that we lost the war in Viet Nam because Walter Cronkite said it was unwinable. Here in the South we insist that the Civil War is not over because we know that until everyone agrees a conflict is over our side is down but not out. Staying because we don’t want to dishonor the soldiers that lost their lives so far or because we hate to lose is no reason to stay.

As you are very well aware, victory is far less about military outcome then it is about lasting coercive political change. How you can point to Iraq and see us winning or see Victory is beyond me. Yes, you saw a pacified neighborhood and a bunch of gung ho reenlistments. What does that tell you? That as long as we hold a boot to a local’s neck they will remain silent, and that the US Army will follow you to the ends of the earth. You won’t find soldiers whining and since half of the wounded and dying is done by teenagers I don’t put too much stock in their experience in world or military affairs.

President Bush and diplomacy averse neocons wanted to see WMD in Iraq and the spreading of Democracy in the Middle East. You want to see us winning and the conclusion of this war with our victory. I wanted all these things too but reality does not seem to bear them out. My trips to drag young Americans out of the Iraqi meat grinder, in my opinion, trump your strolls in Baghdad and reenlistment ceremonies.

If we really believe that this is a life and death struggle for America then institute the draft, quadruple our forces, and seriously raise our taxes and Defense spending. In this country we sit on the sidelines playing armchair quarterback while some of our best and brightest die. This conflict is important enough for us to go to war but not important enough to share the sacrifice.

Secretary Rumsfield, like McNamara before him, spoke of a few dead enders and body counts. Do you really believe we are killing enemies faster that we are creating them? If most people in Iraq have a relative or friend who has lost their life since we invaded do we really expect to win either their hearts or minds?

With all due respect,

David S. Ball, Major, AFRC, NC

Operation IRAQI FREEDOM veteran

Housing available January 3rd-26th

David in Charleston — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:31:50 EST

Our daughters are grown and vacated their rooms. We expect a large influx of volunteers from out of state after New Years and want to offer our home. We have a finished room over the garage (known as a FROG in these parts) and two bedrooms. Amenities include a newly remodeld full bath and high speed wireless internet access and some leftovers in the frig.

We are conveniently located a short distance from the downtown Charleston campaign office. Would like a full house of nonsmoking rabid Obama supporters. Will exchange room for call sheets, canvass drives, vote by mail cards and general office work.

Contact Gillian at the Charleston headquarters for details.

My comments leading the national prayer call today

David in Charleston — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:47:33 EST

Why I pray for Barack Good morning to everyone of faith supporting Senator Obama for President. When Paul Monteiro asked that I participate this morning I did some soul searching about why I feel compelled to toil to make Barack our next President. I am not a religious man and I haven’t always bothered to vote never mind have a house party, go door to door, or donate three times as I have so far for Senator Obama. Sometimes it was because the candidates seemed the same. Often it was because my vote seemed insignificant. I’m kind of lazy. I guess I figured my responsibility as a citizen would get picked up by someone else. Today I feel differently. I don’t know if it’s because of hanging chads in Florida, the stark differences between candidates, or our daily preoccupation with security and foreign affairs. For all these reasons America needs a change. My introduction to the Senator was when I heard him speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. At the time a strange and wonderful emotion swept over me. I was too young to remember hearing Rev. Martin Luther King speak but I immediately made the connection and savored every word. I don’t remember Bobby Kennedy but I felt a youthful, optimistic groundswell when Barack spoke. While browsing an airport bookstore I ran across Dreams of My Father. What a remarkable book! To share your past mistakes and hopes for the future so beautifully was a real gift. I returned home to send a copy to my mother. It was also then that I sent a check and called Chicago to urge the Senator to run for President. Like countless thousands I believe I found him and convinced him to run. I’ve traveled to hear him speak three times. Each time I swear he is speaking directly to me. He speaks to me about foreign policy. A policy that does not encourage preemptive war and that allows world leaders to talk, without preconditions. As an Air Force officer who served last year in Iraq I witnessed the suffering and futility that the Administration carefully hides from the American people. He speaks to me about healthcare reform. As a Registered Nurse I know that for all we spend on healthcare we should be the healthiest nation on the planet- and we are not. As the wealthiest nation we can afford to insure all our children- but we do not. He speaks to me of faith. Not as a pulpit bully but as a family man and genuine human being who sees the welfare of others as a sacred duty. As a Jew I believe we are our brother’s keeper. I wonder how our nation might be transformed if we replaced a Texas oil tycoon with a Chicago’s South Side community organizer. Let us pray. (Hebrew prayer here) Let me close by paraphrasing Rabbi Hillel who said - If not me, who? If not now, when?