Jon Soltz on Fox & Friends
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PUBLISHED: July 18, 2007
VoteVets president: 'President Bush has destroyed the armed forces'
Filed by David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Fox News on Wednesday presented a debate between two Iraq War veterans with opposite positions.
Pete Hegseth of vetsforfreedom.org said the announcement of the capture of an al Qaeda leader in Iraq was "great news" that "continues to reinforce the fact that we're fighting more than just a nationalistic insurgency there. ... Iraq will be the front line in their global war against America."
John Soltz of VoteVets.org replied that "obviously the surge is like spitting in the ocean. ... We need 160,000 combat troops just for Baghdad. Unfortunately, President Bush has destroyed the armed forces of the United States, and the military's completely overextended. ... We can't maintain these force levels."
When asked to speculate about the state of Iraq if the US pulls out, Solz replied, "That depends on how we leave. ... If we come up with a responsible plan like we have in the Reid-Levin bill ... it can be very different." He said further that if we stay in Iraq, "leaving American forces in this level not only destroys our ability to project force, but it strengthens Iran and al Qaeda."
Hegseth argued that if the US left, Iraq would become "safe haven part 2" from which al Qaeda could attack "our allies in Europe." Soltz responded that "if we continue to stay in Iraq, we leave this country vulnerable to terrorist threats from the people that attacked this country on 9/11."
The following video is from Fox's Fox & Friends, broadcast on July 18.
Paid for VoteVets Political Action Committee. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. VoteVets Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization which primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on behalf veterans and their families. VoteVets Political Action Committee is a federal political committee which primarily helps elect Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran candidates and educates about veterans and military issues aimed at influencing the outcome of the next election.