VFW response to Reid’s war comments is overlooked

In connection with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s “this war is lost” comment last Thursday and his earlier Iraq war is “a failure” line, Grumpy Editor finds it is surprising that print and broadcast media have not sought responses (for balance) from credible, knowledgeable people --- someone like the head of Veterans of Foreign Wars or any one of the 1.7 million VFW members.

Too much “reaction” is sought from Washington politicians and fellow (mostly Washington-based) journalists, often with books to promote.

Vietnam veteran Gary Kurpius, VFW commander-in-chief, did come up with a retort on Friday, declaring the Nevada Democrat “claims to be a legislator who knows how to compromise, but his repeated comments are having an extremely negative impact on our troops, their families and our allies around the world.” 

Kurpius said his Vietnam generation was blamed for losing that war because of “politicians in Washington who wouldn’t let the generals be generals.”  He added, “The time to debate the war is not in front of a microphone making irresponsible statements and it’s certainly not in the funding bill that keeps our troops alive.”

Despite a VFW news release out of its Washington D.C. offices, Kurpius’s comments received scant attention by news agencies and other media, including his hometown newspaper, Anchorage Daily News.