New York veterans of the Afghanistan War demanded Capitol Hill probe top US officials for misleading the American public about the difficulties of the nearly two-decade-long war on Monday, following revelations from an explosive newspaper exposé based on thousands of pages of internal Pentagon documents.
Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), the only member of the New York City delegation who fought in Afghanistan, said the findings published by the Washington Post “merit a Congressional investigation” and called on the US to pull out its troops once and for all.
“This report lays bare what was obvious to any soldier in the field,” the decorated veteran, who was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, told The Post. “Once we accomplished the initial mission of routing Al Qaeda, politicians and bureaucrats embarked on a nation-building exercise that went beyond what was achievable, and lied to the American people in the process.”
Rose added: “Instead of learning from Vietnam, our leaders echoed the mistakes of a previous generation every step of the way.”
Rose made the demand just hours after The Washington Post published a series of bombshell stories that illustrated how U.S. officials repeatedly misled the public about progress in Afghanistan, even as internal documents told a vastly different story.
The outrage came from across the political spectrum of New York’s veterans’ community.
James Fitzgerald, a decorated Afghan veteran who is now the deputy director of the conservative NYC Veterans Alliance, joined the calls for a congressional inquiry and added that “the public deserves answers.”
“For me, it is unconscionable to believe at the highest levels of our government and our military that this information was withheld,” he said.
Fitzgerald was badly injured in battle in Afghanistan in November 2010 when he shot in the left thigh — and the bullet’s impact knocked him off a mountainside and into a ravine 60 feet below.
“To knowingly send United States armed services personnel into harm’s way is unconscionable,” he said. “And it’s incredible that this treasure trove of documents is just being uncovered. It’s heartbreaking and it’s gut-wrenching because it goes against the very values that our nation was founded on and the very values that our military operates with.”
Another Jersey City veteran of the long-running conflict echoed the calls for hearings.
“Our culture of never questioning the military has kind of led us here, so I can’t really say I am surprised that people who are senior officers — whose careers depend on giving good news about the war — found a way to give good news about the war to progress their careers,” said Kyle Bibby, who once served as a captain in the Marines.
Bibby, who is now the executive director of the nonprofit Black Veterans Project, added: “At some point, we should have realized that we weren’t doing what we should have been doing in Afghanistan.”