Andrew J. Bacevich, a West Point Graduate, Vietnam Veteran and professor of history and international relations at Boston University, has penned a piece for the WaPo, outlining the grief he carries for the recent loss of his son in Iraq. Bacevich has been outspoken against the Iraq War and now he feels as though in some way, he is responsible for his son’s death. What caused Bacevich to question his culpability? This:

Among the hundreds of messages that my wife and I have received, two bore directly on this question. Both held me personally culpable, insisting that my public opposition to the war had provided aid and comfort to the enemy. Each said that my son’s death came as a direct result of my antiwar writings.

How truly sad and disgusting that anyone, anyone would write Bacevich and say such a vile thing. But that has become the nature of our nation’s political divide over the Iraq War and although the tide has turned in recent months and so many more now oppose the Iraq War, there are still those blinded by their support for the president who lied to take us to war. As Bacevich, himself notes:

This may seem a vile accusation to lay against a grieving father. But in fact, it has become a staple of American political discourse, repeated endlessly by those keen to allow President Bush a free hand in waging his war. By encouraging “the terrorists,” opponents of the Iraq conflict increase the risk to U.S. troops. Although the First Amendment protects antiwar critics from being tried for treason, it provides no protection for the hardly less serious charge of failing to support the troops — today’s civic equivalent of dereliction of duty.

Bacevich was right to speak out against this war he did not believe in, as many parents of those serving in the war have. And those who claim falsely that his questioning the war, makes him culpable in son’s death truly have no concept of the word compassion. Now out of the bitter grief of the loss of his son, Bacevich has chosen claim that the “responsibility for the war’s continuation now rests no less with the Democrats who control Congress than with the president and his party.”

Each of us who oppose this war had hoped by now that the Democratic led Congress would be successful in setting down a solid timeline to withdraw from Iraq. The efforts have been unsuccessful. Not for lack of trying and not for the lack of leadership by some in the Congress that Bacevich wrongly chooses to place blame on:

After my son’s death, my state’s senators, Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, telephoned to express their condolences. Stephen F. Lynch, our congressman, attended my son’s wake. Kerry was present for the funeral Mass. My family and I greatly appreciated such gestures. But when I suggested to each of them the necessity of ending the war, I got the brushoff. More accurately, after ever so briefly pretending to listen, each treated me to a convoluted explanation that said in essence: Don’t blame me.

To whom do Kennedy, Kerry and Lynch listen? We know the answer: to the same people who have the ear of George W. Bush and Karl Rove — namely, wealthy individuals and institutions.

Senators Kerry and Kennedy have both been outspoken critics against the war. And both were among the 14 who voted “NO” on the recent Iraq spending bill. How Bacevich manages to lump Kerry and Kennedy in with this group is beyond me, for neither Senator falls into supporting or being a part of any of this:

Money buys access and influence. Money greases the process that will yield us a new president in 2008. When it comes to Iraq, money ensures that the concerns of big business, big oil, bellicose evangelicals and Middle East allies gain a hearing. By comparison, the lives of U.S. soldiers figure as an afterthought.

I could cite here countless links of speeches, OP/ED’s and press releases by both Kerry and Kennedy, railing against the very “big money” entities that Bacevich cites keep the war in Iraq going. Those links won’t bring back Mr. Bacevich’s son. And try as they may to bring an end to the senseless war in Iraq, Senators Kerry and Kennedy, still evidently, as we saw in Congress on Thursday, are members of the minority who are willing to stand up against the war.

We all grieve for the senseless loss of the lives of our brave men and women serving in Iraq. But, no one grieves more than the parents of those lost. My heart goes out to the Bacevich’s. Nothing anyone says can bring back their son and in time I hope that Mr. Bacevich will come to understand that he did not fail his son.

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