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Busted! Shining light on a cockroach
Melanie Morgan uncovers anti-war activist's true colors

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Posted: August 10, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

The war on terrorism has shaken up the American homeland, and like any house, when things are shaken up you never know what will come crawling out from the dark corners.

In the case of Operation Iraqi Freedom, there's been an infestation of those who are determined to undermine our troops, and force them to surrender and admit defeat.

While most of the focus in the conservative world (and surprisingly in the Mainstream Media) this week has been on Scott Thomas Beauchamp, who admitted to Army investigators that he fabricated stories of wrongdoing by U.S. troops, I've also been swatting my folded newspaper at someone who has worked even harder to thwart the missions of our troops in Iraq: anti-war, left-wing activist, Jon Soltz.

(Column continues below)

Soltz is co-founder of the group VoteVets.org which works with MoveOn.org as part of the umbrella network known as Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.

This weekend Soltz was a panelist at the left-wing "Yearly Kos" convention where he launched into a tirade against U.S. Army Sgt. David Aguina of the 733rd maintenance company. Sgt. Aguina made the 'mistake' of noting the progress being made with "the surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq. He did not express any political opinions; he merely challenged the panel to prove him wrong that civilian casualties in Iraq had dropped.

Left-wing activist Jon Soltz apparently considers citing any evidence of success from Iraq a "political act" because Sgt. Aguina was soon subjected to a verbal attack from Soltz who threatened to have him punished by the military.

Here's what Soltz said as captured by the great people at Pajamas Media who videotaped the incident:

"For the sergeant I want to see you outside, I want the name of your commander, your first sergeant, you never ever use my uniform again in the name of political purposes."

As Soltz bolted from the stage, the Pajamas Media cameras were still rolling and asked Soltz why he was so worked up.

"Well look, you don't use the military uniform to talk politics…. I don’t appreciate people using military uniforms in politics," Soltz said.

One problem, Mr. Soltz – you're a hypocrite and a liar.

Here's the image I downloaded on Thursday from Mr. Soltz's VoteVets.org website – a group that spent nearly $2 million in the 2006 election cycle to defeat Republican candidates for Congress who supported the missions of our troops in Iraq.

John Soltz on his VoteVets.org Candidates website

There's Mr. Soltz using a picture of himself in his uniform right under a menu bar that shows which political candidates are "VoteVets.org Candidates" – you can view the photograph of Soltz in uniform on the VoteVets.org website until they realize he's busted and take it down.

I've been following Jon Soltz with special attention ever since I faced him on The Lehrer News Hour on PBS. (You can watch Part 1 of the debate or Part 2 of the debate)

Soltz reminded me of Sen. John Kerry, another combat veteran who turned against his brothers in the military and stabbed them in the back and betrayed them while they were engaged in their missions in Vietnam.

John Kerry

Like Soltz, Kerry famously posed in his uniform while attacking his superiors in the military and actively organizing to undercut the missions of U.S. troops involved in combat.

Birds of a feather flock together it seems, as Jon Soltz recently explained that it was none other than John Kerry himself who had counseled Soltz on his anti-victory activism.

As reported by Fox News Channel and The Riehl World blog, "Soltz ... thanked Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry, who opposed the Vietnam War after returning from combat, for helping him to focus his disillusionment after returning from Iraq." (They have the video to back it up too, which you can watch.

Our nation is at war, and we have boots on the ground overseas fighting in a war that Islamic jihadists declared against us. Have the anti-war activists stopped to think about what would happen if our troops leave the battlefield prematurely? I have. The entire region would be in chaos. Al-Qaida would rule from Syria, through Lebanon, into Pakistan, and Iran. America needs to win. Victory isn't hard to imagine. Iraq will be stable, a young democracy at work, and American interests in the region would be represented.

Yet, left-wing activists have been engaged in a fierce campaign to undermine the war effort. No news there, but what is alarming is the degree to which they are organized, funded, and orchestrated. Jon Soltz has emerged to become the front man in their campaign to betray our troops and force them to declare defeat in Iraq.

On Wednesday, Move America Forward Vice Chairman, Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson (USAF, Ret.) confronted Soltz on his political activism at the same time he is serving in the reserves – a violation of the U.S. Military's Uniform Code of Military Justice.

As captured in a video from MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, Soltz screamed, yelled and literally stuck his tongue in the side of his cheek in discomfort as he realized that Colonel Patterson had busted Soltz for improper conduct.

Jon Soltz is acting like a cockroach, frantically scurrying from the spotlight of truth that's shining on him.

Does anyone have a can of bug spray handy?