PRO-TROOP GROUP OPPOSES POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IN CONTROVERSIAL NEW ARMY MANUAL

Sacramento, Calif. – The nation’s largest grass-roots, pro-troop organization, Move America Forward has joined the thousands of voices that have criticized a proposed revision of the U.S. Army Field Manual that instructs troops to avoid discussing matters which some Afghans could find offensive. The hypersensitive list of taboo subjects includes “making derogatory comments about the Taliban,” “advocating women’s rights,” and even “any criticism of pedophilia.” The idea that we need to stop standing for American values overseas undermines our mission and the reason we are there.

Move America Forward also says that the Army Field Manual goes too far in blaming the troops themselves for incidents where Afghan police or army personnel have turned their guns on their U.S. counterparts. The proposed revisions state “Many of the confrontations [attacks] occur because of [coalition] ignorance of, or lack of empathy for Muslim and/or Afghan cultural norms.”

MAF spokesperson and Gold Star-Mom, Debbie Lee, disagrees.

“Our troops fighting in Afghanistan have nothing to apologize for,” said Lee, whose son Navy SEAL Marc Alan Lee was killed fighting insurgents in Iraq in 2006. “The men and women of the American military have always stood up for the human rights of other nations, protected the weak from outside aggressors, and served as ambassadors for American tolerance, equality and cultural diversity. Men and women from all races, religions and belief systems serve side by side and are treated equally. We should encourage our troops to be proud of that fact, not apologize for it.” said Lee.

“Even Marine General John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan says he doesn’t approve of this language. It’s insane that our troops are told not to criticize the Taliban,” Lee says. “When my son was in Iraq, he wrote his last letter home to me just weeks before he was killed in battle defending our country. In that letter he talked about all the great ways we were improving the lives of the Iraqi people. Coalition forces supplied security and medical care to people that couldn’t get it. Those people had nothing, and he was so proud to give them a little bit of what we take for granted here in America.”

“If we aren’t committed to fighting for and offering the people of Afghanistan something better than the Taliban’s oppressive and exploitive system, then why are we even fighting?” asked Lee.

To Interview Debbie Lee another Move America Forward spokesperson, contact Scott Raab at sraab@moveamericaforward.org or by calling (916) 583-8321

Move America Forward, a registered 501(c)(3) charity, based in Sacramento, supports our troops and their missions in the war on terror. Co-founded in 2004 by Melanie Morgan, talk radio host from San Francisco, California, Move America Forward is supported by hundreds of thousands of pro-troop activists, veterans and military families across the nation. To date, they have shipped over 300 tons of care packages to our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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