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BY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Mission accomplished? A lot of people did not think so in 2006 and 2007, around the time some politicians seemed ready declare a premature victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
During those years, Congress had set aside $20 million in defense budgeting to fund a party in Washington honoring the U.S. troops at the end of the conflicts.
The president has the authority to declare a day of celebration in honor of the troops’ service around the country. But according to stripes.com, funds for the proposed celebration were moved early in 2007, during another Congress battle about supporting President George W. Bush’s troop “surge” in Iraq.
Today, officials in New York and Washington say they would be happy to plan a parade for the troops returning from Iraq, but the Pentagon officials claims they haven't been asked to arrange a celebration.
An Associated Press report in the New Jersey Herald said a parade that took place in the Canyon of Heroes in New York after the Gulf War was funded by more than $5.2 million in private donations. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he didn’t want to do anything today without consulting Washington.
The New York Daily News reports that war veterans have received parades in their honor in Washington after most American military conflicts except the Vietnam War. Vietnam veterans were honored in Chicago in 1986, 11 years after the end of the war. Parades did not occur for them until the 1980s because of differing opinions about the war.
NorthJersey.com suggests that New Jersey lead the way in honoring the soldiers who are coming home and the memory of the approximately 4,500 who died. They say a celebration can be held at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands. They believe the commitment of the troops deserves respect, and they should be honored.
In celebrating the return of veterans, Americans should be mindful that about 91,000 U.S. troops still remain in Afghanistan, and many Iraq War veterans could still be deployed there.
