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POSTED ON TAP ONLINE: HONORING THE WARRIORS, ENDING THE WAR. Terence Samuel reports from Billings, Montana on how red state Dems like Jon Tester are faring during their congressional recess in explaining their vote for the war supplemental. As it turns out, they're faring quite well. In the looming showdown with President Bush, "the political ground is shifting so fast that the administration may find itself without the kind of leverage one would have presumed it could count on ... Bush may face an even more determined, and confrontational, Congress when lawmakers return next week." Samuel describes an exchange between Tester and a constituent in Billings.
Indeed, the only direct mention of the vote came from a young Army wife, who thanked Tester for "supporting the troops by voting for deadlines to bring them home." Heather Scharre is 28. She's married to 27-year-old Sergeant Paul Scharre, who served three tours in Afghanistan while on active duty, then left the Army only to find himself involuntarily recalled last September. He is now on his way to Iraq. "We've been told to expect 14 to 16 months," Heather said of her husband's deployment.Scharre asked Tester, who sits on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, to make sure that returning Iraq veterans have access to counseling, including couples and marriage counseling. "We were used to four-month deployments," Scharre said. The adjustments after those tours were difficult enough; she could only imagine what re-entry into everyday life will be like after a tour of 14 or 16 months."I think we been hearing from some people, like the president and the vice-president, that if you don't support the war, you don't support the troops," said Scharre, "and I feel very strongly that that is not the case."The whole article is here.
--The Editors
