Rick Perry Disses Vietnam War Veterans; Offers Banalities at VFW Convention

Frontrunner, Rick Perry

Frontrunner for the GOP nomination for the presidency, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, outlined his foreign policy before the annual convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in San Antonio this week, a day before President Obama addressed the American Legion Annual Conference in Minneapolis.

And even Perry's vague outlines and platitudes manage to offend democratic sensibilities.

Perry paid homage to the xenophobic mind-set of the national VFW organization by warning that the U.S. ought not "go it alone" in using the military and intelligence community's might, then in the course of the next few sentences saying we "cannot concede the moral authority of our nation to multilateral debating societies," presumably referring to the community of countries comprising the Untied Nations that might call for international law trumping wars of aggression. Said Perry:

It's not our interest to go it alone. We respect our allies and we must always seek to engage them in military missions. But at the same time, we must be willing to act when it is time to act. We cannot concede the moral authority of our nation to multilateral debating societies, and when our interests are threatened American soldiers should be led by American commanders.

Perry tried to sanitize the Vietnam War stating it "stands as a stark reminder of the cost of war." Perry did not mention the fact that the Vietnam War was begun and sustained through the lies of politicians.

Nor did Perry mention the war against Vietnam War veterans launched during the Bush-Cheney administration, and not acknowledged nor repudiated by the Obama administration.

Perry echoed the moderate-sounding George W. Bush promises made in 2000 on the topic of military adventurism, before Bush - as generally understood - stole the U.S. election and then launched illegal wars of aggression based upon lies.

"We should only risk shedding American blood and spending American treasure when our vital interests are threatened, and we should always look to build coalitions among the nations," Perry said.

Perry is an Air Force veteran.