On a frigid afternoon in the middle of the desert of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, I walked between halted trucks in our logistics convoy trying to find a buddy who had a box of MRE's that hadn't yet been raided for all of the good meals. My fellow Soldiers milled about, either napping to recover from driving all through the previous night, playing cards or dominoes, or like me, looking for some sustenance. Then, a high pitched descending shriek rang out of the sky and voices all around echoed the shout "incoming!"
I reacted quickly, jumping under the closest truck for cover. The mortar round landed a good 100 meters beyond our position, and I climbed out from under the truck unscathed. I stood up, began beating the desert sand off of my uniform and looked over at the vehicle which I had just crawled out from under. It was an Army fuel truck, carrying 2,500 gallons of flammable diesel.
While I left home a week after my first child was born to serve my country honorably as a noncommissioned officer in Afghanistan, Pennsylvania State Representative Deryl Metcalfe thinks I'm a traitor:
Subject: Re: Veterans for American Power Bus Tour coming to your state
As a veteran,
I believe that any veteran lending their name, to promote the leftist propaganda of global warming and climate change, in an effort to control more of the wealth created in our economy, through cap and tax type policies, all in the name of national security, is a traitor to the oath he or she took defend the Constitution of our great nation!
Remember Benedict Arnold before giving credibility to a veteran who uses their service as a means to promote a leftist agenda.
Drill Baby Drill!!!
For Liberty,Daryl MetcalfeState RepresentativeVeteran U.S. Army
That was the correspondence sent by Deryl Metcalfe regarding Operation FREE's Veterans for American Power Bus Tour, an event taking Vets all over the country in two bio-diesel fueled buses to discuss the threat multiplier that is climate change.
Representative Metcalfe, who served his country honorably in peacetime during the early 1980s in Germany and Kansas, deserves respect for that service. What Deryl Metcalfe doesn't get to do, however, is accuse veterans of treason, simply because he doesn't agree with them.
Maybe since Deryl Metcalfe never served in combat, he doesn't understand that 70% of military convoys carry fuel, putting the soldiers who operate and provide security for those convoys in grave danger each and every day. Representative Metcalfe probably never had to hide from mortar fire, much less had to resort to hiding under a highly flammable fuel truck because it was the closest thing.
But what Deryl Metcalfe can't reject is what the American national security establishment has said about the threat to our country that results from climate change:
• The Pentagon will include a climate section in the Quadrennial Defense Review due in February and the State Department will include climate change in its new Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. New York Times, August 8, 2009
• In 2008, a National Intelligence Assessment from the National Intelligence Council said "global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for US national security interests over the next 20 years." Senate Testimony of Dr. Thomas Fingar, June 28, 2008
• In fall 2009, the CIA announced plans to launch a center on climate change to examine the security risks of environmental issues. CIA Website, September 25, 2009
• In 2007, 11 retired flag officers released a report that argued that "Projected climate change poses a serious threat to America's national security" and "climate change acts as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world." CNA, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change, 2007
• According to the American Security Project, "Addressing the consequences of changes in the Earth's climate is not simply about saving polar bears or preserving the beauty of mountain glaciers. Climate change is a threat to our national security. Taking it head on is about preserving our way of life." Climate Security Index, 2009
• According to former Senator John Warner (R-VA), a veteran and former Secretary of the Navy, "Leading military, intelligence, and security experts have publicly spoken out that if left unchecked, global warming could increase instability and lead to conflict in already fragile regions of the world. If we ignore these facts, we do so at the peril of our national security and increase the risk to those in uniform who serve our nation." Testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, in spite of what a Republican former elected official and Navy Secretary, flag grade officers, the National Intelligence Council, the Department of Defense, and CIA have said about climate change, in spite of the honorable service and sacrifice given to our country by Veterans who are standing up for clean energy, Deryl Metcalfe still thinks we are traitors. Well, Veterans from Operation FREE and VoteVets.org have their own opinion about Deryl Metcalfe, and we think he should resign.
That's why VoteVets.org is running this radio ad in Representative Metcalfe's Pennsylvania district:
Dishonored:60 Radio Ad
ANNCR: Traitors. That's what State Representative Darryl Metcalfe called decorated Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Traitors. Pittsburgh resident and Iraq war veteran Chuck Tyler.
Chuck Tyler: Representative Metcalfe. A lot of my friends never made it home from Iraq. Dishonoring us dishonors their memory. We deserve better - and so does Pennsylvania.
ANNCR: Metcalfe was attacking members of Operation Free; veterans whose goal is to make America more secure with clean energy and cut the flow of oil dollars to those who would do us harm. It's a goal the Department of Defense, the CIA, and the National Intelligence Council all share. Chuck Tyler: I'm not a traitor sir. I'm just a veteran doing what's right to protect my country.
ANNCR: Call Representative Darryl Metcalfe at 717-783-1707 and tell him to resign - because attacking America's patriots is the most unpatriotic thing you can do. A message from Operation Free. Paid for by Vote Vets Action Fund.
We need to send a message to Deryl Metcalfe, that the tired old paradigm of accusing those who disagree with you of treason doesn't work anymore. It's especially unacceptable when it is applied to American Veterans who have shown their commitment to their country. For these reasons, there is only one course of action Deryl Metcalfe should take with his career in electoral politics: resign.