Neil Abercrombie: “The difficulty I think here is that there has been a tendency, at least to this point, and I detect a change coming…”

“The difficulty I think here is that there has been a tendency, at least to this point, and I detect a change coming here, too, the tendency has been, if not the outright policy, is equate support for the troops with the political policies of those who have sent them over there. That to me is an abomination of the idea of patriotism. Serving as I do on the Committee on Armed Services, I am only too well aware of the caliber of the fighting man and woman in the United States Armed Forces today. The capacity that they have to carry out their mission is extraordinary. The morale that they do have associated with their own perception of what they are capable of, believe me, could not be higher. The question is, are we up to the task? Are the politicians up to the task of representing that same kind of competency and professionalism, if you will, in providing what that mission should be?”