The Associated Press September 21, 2004
McMullen says he can do more on security than Leahy
By Wilson Ring
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jack McMullen says he can do more to help win the global war on terrorism than incumbent Sen. Patrick Leahy.
McMullen said Leahy was critical of American policy in Iraq and that criticism was making it harder for the service members on the ground in Iraq to do their jobs.
He said Leahy was equating the ongoing war in Iraq with the Vietnam War.
"I think sometimes the senator overlooks the fact that these forces are engaged on the ground in difficult circumstances," McMullen said at a news conference on the steps of the Statehouse. "I believe he does have the framework of Vietnam in his mind."
Leahy has voted against spending plans for the war, against increases in intelligence spending and has focused too much on problems such as the Abu Ghraib prison abuse cases where American service members are accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners, McMullen said.
"I don't think you can support the troops without supporting their mission," McMullen said. "They're not there for nothing."
The Burlington businessman was then asked by a reporter if he meant that it was unpatriotic to criticize the war effort.
"Criticism of the war is fair game. And Leahy's criticism is fair game to a degree," McMullen said. "His framework, the activities he chooses to focus on, all have the effect of emphasizing our weaknesses, our shortcomings, without accentuating our strength."
Leahy's chief of staff Luke Albee dismissed McMullen's criticisms.
"To equate criticism and dissent in a democracy to aiding our enemies is an astonishing and irresponsible charge," Albee said. "Somebody needs to tell Mr. McMullen that Vermont is the state that produced Ralph Flanders not Joe McCarthy."
During the 1950s, Vermont Sen. Flanders was one of the first members of the Senate to criticize the Wisconsin senator for what have since come to be seen as witch hunts for communists inside the federal government.
Albee said Leahy had voted in recent years for trillions of dollars in defense spending, but opposed writing a blank check for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to make sure the operations were being properly planned.
McMullen said the war in Iraq wasn't going as well as hoped, but the Iraqi people were no longer threatened by Saddam Hussein's government. And he said it did make the United States safer because other regional governments like Syria and Libya were becoming less belligerent.
"We have a situation to clean up there," McMullen said.
"The weight of opinion is on managing this process to a successful conclusion. We've only been at it a year plus. We've suffered about a thousand casualties in total. That's 740 or so combat deaths. These are each tragic deaths. This is not Vietnam. These are manageable military losses."
As of Monday, the Associated Press had reported that 1,032 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003. Of those, 782 died as a result of hostile action and 250 died of non-hostile causes. An unofficial count by the group GlobalSecurity.org says more than 7,700 U.S. service members have been wounded in action.
McMullen said Leahy had done a lot to help Vermont prepare for future terrorist threats through the "small state minimum" that guarantees states like Vermont get a certain percentage of Homeland Security money.
"It's nice to have the funding as a small state for our fire and rescue and first responders," McMullen said. "It's not nearly enough. We are dealing with people who are not deterrable. We have to find them and neutralize them."
© Copyright 2004, Associated Press
