Bring Our Troops Home

Joe Kent is reportedly under FBI investigation for allegedly leaking classified information.

The truth? I used to be pro-war. I was a teenager when 9/11 happened. We watched live as the towers fell. We were terrified and confused. We had no idea why anyone would want to hurt America. “Why?!” Was the question on almost every Americans lips. “Because you are rich and free,” said the Bush Administration. “Oh,” we replied, still confused. Then they said we had to defend America. And that questioning the wars was anti-soldier. And that Bush needed us to unite behind him to ensure 9/11 would never happen again. I voted for Bush — first time voting. I thought it was okay that we invaded Iraq. I believed my president when he said it must be done. I watched boys from my high school go to war. I saw Bush make not finding weapons a joke… I saw them hang Saddam, and felt shame when the torture pictures were leaked… And through it all, the question still lingered, why? During Ron Paul’s presidential campaign, I heard him talk about “blowback” and how our current foreign policy was making us more unsafe, less free, and bankrupting us. That message resonated more than “they hate us because we’re rich and free.” I was gripped and spent weeks of my life researching our foreign policy. Now, I speak up against the wars that are plundering my nation. And I resolutely support the Defend the Guard movement, a fast - growing coalition that is trying to make it so our Montana guardsmen CANNOT be sent to war unless Congress votes for it … something they haven’t done since the 1940s. Every time the Defend the Guard bill is at the Capitol I’ve gone down to testify. Often, it’s discouraging. -We’re given, at most, 2 minutes to talk. -The war machine is always two steps ahead of us. -Very old men cuss at us because they think we’re dishonoring the sacrifice of the soldiers by trying to stop the bleeding. -Young soldiers beg to be heard while our legislators ignore them in favor of the military brass and big business. We haven’t been able to pass it yet… and, now I wonder, if we had, would have other states followed suit? Would we have succeeded in crippling our corrupt foreign policy that is making old war profiteers rich off the blood of our soldiers? Would we have been able to stop the next Vietnam or Iraq… or, dare I say, Iranian War? I don’t know. I can’t go back and change the past. But I know I will be at the Capitol supporting this bill every time it’s presented. Hopefully this next time as a Senator, who will be given more than two minutes to stop a war.

Rep. Pete Sessions: "I believe that what these 2,500 Marines would be is to secure the island. The island is not, in my opinion, boots on the ground in combat circumstances. It's not like inside Iran in the cities."

There are many false claims in this letter but let me address one specifically: that "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation."   This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over.   As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first.   This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors. President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.   Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The Iranian regime is evil. It proudly killed Americans, waged war against our country, and openly threatened us all the way up to the launch of Operation Epic Fury.   Iran was aggressively expanding their short-range ballistic missiles to combine with their naval assets to give themselves immunity – meaning they would have a degree of a capabilities that would give them immunity to hold us and the rest of the world hostage.   The regime aimed to use those ballistic missiles as a shield to continue achieving their ultimate goal – nuclear weapons.   The President, through his top negotiators, gave the regime every single possible opportunity to abandon this unacceptable course by permanently giving up their nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief, free nuclear fuel, and potential economic partnerships with our country.   But they would not say yes to peace because obtaining nuclear weapons was their fundamental goal.   President Trump ultimately made the determination that a joint attack with Israel would greatly reduce the risk to American lives that would come from a first strike by the terrorist Iranian regime and address this imminent threat to America’s national security interests.   All of this led to President Trump arriving at the determination that this military operation was necessary for U.S. national security, which is why he launched the massively successful Operation Epic Fury. The Commander-in-Chief determines what does and does not constitute a threat, because he is the one constitutionally empowered to do so - and because the American people went to the ballot box and entrusted him and him alone to make such final judgments. And finally, the absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable. President Trump has been remarkably consistent and has said for DECADES that Iran can NEVER possess a nuclear weapon. As someone who actually witnesses President Trump’s decision-making process on a daily basis, I can attest to the fact that he is always looking to do what’s in the best interest of the United States of America — period. America First.

And the smear campaign starts...