Iraq vets group tours against troop buildup

[sabra]

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/01/apminnvets070129/

Iraq vets group tours against troop buildup

ST. PAUL — A group of Iraq war veterans is launching a national TV ad campaign arguing that politicians who fail to oppose a troop buildup in Iraq “don’t support the troops.”

The group, VoteVets.org, a political action fund that supported antiwar candidates in last fall’s election, is targeting Republican U.S. senators who have expressed concern over President Bush’s plan to send 21,500 more troops to Baghdad and Anbar province — but who aren’t supporting a nonbinding Senate resolution opposing the buildup.

The group kicked off a nationwide tour Monday morning with a news conference in St. Paul, where they put pressure on Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, who voted against the resolution last week in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but has also said he opposes sending more troops to Baghdad.

“He has no problem saying he is against the escalation in Iraq,” said Jon Soltz, national chairman of VoteVets.org, and who served as an Army captain in Iraq from May to September 2003. “But he has not voted to oppose the escalation.”