Statement released this morning in answer to Medena Benjamin's use of Military Families
(Washington, DC) The Blue Star Mothers of America strongly condemns the organizers of the recent visit to Iraq by parents of American service members. Operation Iraq Watch* and Global Exchange* are anti-American leftist groups that are cynically exploiting the fears and concerns of families in order to achieve their goal of undermining morale and bringing about the defeat of America in the War on Terror.
While the Blue Star Mothers share the families' concerns for the safety and well being of our sons and daughters in uniform, we believe the best way to ensure their swift and safe return home is to give our full support to their mission. Anything less plays into the hands of our enemies and gives aid and comfort to those who are targeting our troops for maiming and death with IEDs, RPGs, car bombs, etc.
The Blue Star Mothers of America is a congressionally chartered veterans support group whose members are parents of active duty or honorably discharged veterans. Our organization is active in troop support, veterans support and promoting patriotism. We have members active in forty-four (44) states, many of whom have sons or daughters deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.