Manion Discusses ‘Victory’ With Vets

By Bradley Vasoli
The Bulletin

Philadelphia - Congressional candidate Tom Manion gathered with members of Vets for Freedom last night at Field House Sports Bar, arguing that success in Iraq can come only with a decisive military victory.

“You can’t really have success if you leave that country with no consideration of the consequences,” said Mr. Manion, who served 30 years in the Marine Corps and worked 18 years at Johnson & Johnson. He is running for the U.S. House of Representatives against freshman representative and Iraq War veteran U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-8th, of Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

Capt. Pete Hegseth and Sgt. David Bellavia, who head the group Veterans for Freedom, joined Mr. Manion to discuss the import of backing a sustained presence in Iraq until the young democracy is stabilized. They said whatever one’s party affiliation or views on the wisdom of any military undertaking, the importance of success should take precedence when choosing political leadership.

“Nowhere on our dog tags does it say ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat,’” Capt. Hegseth said. “Issues of war and peace should never be waged in the realm of politics.”

The two noted their organization endorses Democrats as well as Republicans, as long as the candidate commits to opposing withdrawal timetables and other war policies they say would imperil victory.

A third veteran, Captain Brian Stann, who knew Mr. Manion’s son Travis who died in combat in Iraq, also joined the candidate. He and the other veterans spoke of the Manion family as one that has known true patriotic sacrifice. Their message centered upon honoring the contributions of those who lost their lives but also staying mindful of the possible ramifications of losing in Iraq.

“That will play a factor in the next 50 years for this country,” Capt. Stann said, arguing al-Qaida will remain attentive to the success or failure of U.S. military efforts.

Looking ahead to the challenge of a potentially nuclear-armed Iran, Mr. Manion advocated exercising all diplomatic and punitive options including ramping up sanctions and engaging in multilateral talks with allies in the region. He said direct communications with Iran’s leadership should come “with preconditions, I might add,” a comment pointed at presidential candidate Barack Obama who argued for unconditional willingness to engage in diplomacy with Iran.

Mr. Manion also said his opponent’s position that U.S. forces should redeploy from Iraq to Afghanistan would mean neglect of a crucial component of the war on terror, a point Mr. Murphy disputed.

“Just this summer, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said we cannot send more troops to Afghanistan until we reduce our presence in Iraq,” Murphy spokesman Nat Binns said. “Our military leaders are saying we can’t do both, and strategically, Congressman Murphy believes that we need to refocus on Osama Bin-Laden and al-Qaida, where they are strongest, which is in Afghanistan.”