The same day his challenger Ned Lamont laid out his plan for how to deal with the War in Iraq at Yale University in New Haven, a group of veterans praised U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman for his support in the war effort outside the state armory in Hartford. Staff Sgt. James Liska said Lamont’s position on the war changes with his audience. Whereas, “Joe Lieberman has consistently said we’re going to stay the course,” he said.
Lieberman told CNN Aug. 20, 2006 that “I’ve never been for an indefinite, unconditional deployment of American troops.” Liska said Lieberman’s unwavering support is important to him as a soldier. “We started something, we need to finish it,” Liska said. “Does that mean people who don’t support the war, don’t support the troops?” on reporter asked.“A lot of people do support the troops,” but “supporting the whole war effort is important,” Liska said. Captain Kevin Jackson, who was part of the 3rd infantry unit that was part of the initial invasion into Baghdad, said the military has plans going forward and pulling out now would be a mistake. “It takes time to train people,” he said. He said when he left in January there were great strides being made in training Iraqi forces to police their own. Jackson said when he was there troops were already pulling out U.S. forces from larger municipalities. While he admitted things have changed in the months since he’s been gone, he said that he’s certain pulling out forces now would endanger the lives of U.S. soldiers left there to fulfill reconstruction efforts. Liska, 41, said he plans to reenlist and redeploy to Iraq as a member of the National Guard. He is currently a member of the U.S. Army. Last week a group of veterans expressed their support for Lamont. Click here to read that story.
