Paul Rieckhoff, founder of IAVA and author of Chasing Ghosts will live blog on General Clark's blog tomorrow night at 8PM ET.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/8200

I saw Paul at a book reading/signing at the Strand bookstore in Manhattan last week. He really is a great guy with a lot of really interesting things to say....I respect him deeply.

Paul was really great on the live blog the other night.

Here is the link to the blog:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/8216

As I said before, Paul is really an amazing, impressive person. I highly recommend his wonderful book "Chasing Ghosts".

Here is website for the book:
http://www.chasingghosts.com

And check out the website for his organization also:
http://www.iava.org

Join if you can....It's really a worthy effort.

http://www.iava.org/index.php?option=com_c...id=17&Itemid=49

About IAVA

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans. Please refer to the links at left for information about our mission, founding principles, board of advisors and staff.

IAVA is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization. Your contributions are vital to our success. Click here to find out how you can help!

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Mission Statement

The mission of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is to ensure the enactment of policies that properly provide for our Troops & Veterans, keep our military strong, and guarantee our national security for the purpose of a stronger America. We uniquely empower Iraq & Afghanistan combat veterans to use their credibility and experiences to speak truth to power, shape public opinion, and place a priority on these issues.

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Founding Principles

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America believes that Troops and Veterans who were on the front lines are uniquely qualified to speak about and educate the public about the realities of war, its implications on the health of our military and on the health of our country. These Troops & Veterans should be given a voice in the national dialogue and connected to the American public.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America believes that issues concerning our Troops & Veterans, the health of our Military, and our National Security are all interrelated. The IAVA philosophy/platform is that:

A healthy, well-manned, well-equipped, and properly used Military is vital to our national security, but with substantial priority placed on personnel, not high-end weapons systems
Our Troops must always be provided a clear mission (with goals and an exit strategy), be properly trained for the tasks it is given, and not be overextended in order to ensure success of the mission and to keep the military healthy.
Our Troops must always be provided the best equipment and operating conditions that provide for the greatest level of safety and moral within reason.
Veterans must be properly provided for, not only for moral reasons, but because it directly and significantly impacts recruitment and morale for the overall armed forces.

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http://iava.org/index.php?option=com_conte...id=11&Itemid=37

Troops' Charities (links to charities at above link, with explanations)
Send Letters, Gifts, and Packages to Troops Overseas
Help Troops Get the Supplies They Need
Help Troops Stay in Touch with Their Families and Friends
Support Military Families in Need
Help Iraqi Civilians

I picked this out from the text of the Blog:

Submitted by PaulRieckhoff Of John Kerry:



Reflecting back on things; he is dead on of course hindsight is always twenty twenty.....

I always get a little leery of these organizations when the founder has a political ax to grind. I watch what he does for a while before I pass judgement.

I'm not sure what you mean by Paul having a political ax to grind so I'm not sure if I'll be speaking to your concerns here but....

Paul's main goal in creating the organization was to give Iraq and Afghanistan vets...those who were on the ground, doing the real fighting over there...a voice. When he came back from Iraq, he first tried going directly to the media. Then he tried the Bush campaign. (They didn't return his calls.) Then he tried the Kerry campaign, where he finally did get a hearing. He just really thought that the voice of those who'd actually experienced what was going on there should be part of the political dialogue about Iraq.

He became disillusioned with the Kerry campaign when he felt they'd decided that the Iraq War discussion shouldn't be part of the campaign.

He writes in his book, "I realized then that I had no candidate and no party. Just as in Iraq, veterans back home were given limited resources, left to fend for themselves, and to make their own plans. A tremendous gap between the public and the truth existed in the national dialogue about Iraq, because the firsthand perspective, which only those who served on the ground could provide, was not being told.

It was clear we veterans would have to do it ourselves....We created our own nonpartisan forum for the troops to tell their stories so the American people could make informed decisions about the issues affecting America and hold leaders from both parties accountable."

He wrote on the blog, regarding IAVA:

"We are often at odds with the Pres. Not because he is a republican, but because he is in charge. We hold both parties accountable. The truth should not be a partisan issue."

If you read his book (And, if you don't want to buy it because you fear that the Hope for New Veterans Project, which works to keep Iraq and Afghanistan Vets from becoming homeless and which receives a portion of the profits from the book, has a political ax to grind also, you can get it from your local library.), maybe you'll have more of an idea of what it's all about and where he was coming from when he started IAVA.

Also, it's been around for over 2 years now so you should have had a bit of a chance to "see what he does" already.

I hope you'll at least read his book...These vets do deserve a fair hearing...At least I think they do.

I'm leery of every thing and everyone. I was told once by an Iraqi interpretuer... "that every Iraqi has two faces" ... to which I replied.....

"Our cultures have got more in common then I thought."

Well then, let me give you an excerpt from an article I read about him then.

"When he returned to the United States after his 10 months in Iraq, he began to talk about the flaws in the Bush administration’s war plans."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5625564/site/newsweek/

If he's doing this for the troops in Iraq or to work towards a solution to a problem I'll be all for him . If he's doing it to make a little political mileage out of Bush bashing I'll not pay him no mind.