Military Heroes Added to Obama Campaign's 'Enemies List'

Military Heroes Added to Obama Campaign's 'Enemies List'
By Leah Barkoukis
8/21/2012

Barack Obama’s 'enemies list' just got bigger. In April, Kate wrote about one of Obama’s campaign sites naming and shaming private citizens who donated to Mitt Romney. Now, one day after Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund released a documentary-style video hammering the president for countless national security leaks and the politicization of the raid that killed OBL, the Obama campaign decided it was time to target military heroes.

The charge made by the Obama campaign is that the veterans’ groups are “Swift Boat 2.0”--referring to the group that launched a series of ads (never refuted) in 2008 contesting claims by then-Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry about his war record. Left-wing groups aligned with the Obama administration have even gone so far as to call the U.S. Navy Seals “gutless” for their participation in criticism of Obama.

Ryan Zinke, a member of the Montana state Senate and a U.S. Navy SEAL from 1985 to 2008, told Breitbart News: “It's a sad time for America when a President has to resort to bully tactics, intimidation, and misleading personal attacks against anyone who dares to speak out and be heard. The good thing is Americans have a long history of defeating tyrants.”

Zinke launched Special Operations for America in July, which is one of the groups on the campaign’s 'enemies list.' Much like the OPSEC video, Zinke argues that the president has essentially failed as Commander-in-Chief by putting the lives of U.S. troops and their families in danger for political gain. “It is a call of duty to take back America from a Commander-in-Chief that is incapable of understanding the sacrifices that have been made for the values that have made America great,” Zinke said.

Joel Arends, recipient of the Bronze Star and chair of Veterans for a Strong America, said:

The president's team is more serious about labeling a group of veterans as “swift boaters” than they are about going after the leakers in his administration. The reality is as simple as it is disturbing - American lives are now in danger because this White House under the leadership of President Obama have leaked vital national security secrets. And instead of appointing a special prosecutor - this President dispatches his campaign team to smear a group of vets looking out for their buddies in uniform. It just shows the lack of seriousness on the part of this administration.

If they want to call us swift boaters because we are looking out for our buddies on the battlefield that's fine with me - we'll take the political body blows for our comrades in order to ensure that the American people fully understand our position on the issue and see the administration's intransigence on this issue.

These groups are especially critical in providing a voice because as Zinke noted, active duty military cannot "publicly engage in the political campaign process and it is career suicide for senior military leaders to speak out against the President.” Now, the campaign is targeting the very people who not only put their lives on the line to protect this country but are also the few that are able to publically express political opinions. There is no telling how low the Obama campaign will go in an effort to keep The One in power.
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