Bill DeWitt, MA, MFT, LDAC, served as an infantry platoon leader and company commander in Viet Nam, 1967 to 1968. His career as a counselor started when he earned his Masters degree in counseling. He later became a licensed drug and alcohol counselor and marriage and family therapist. Throughout his career, he has worked with combat veterans and their familes from every war, World War Two to Afghanistan. He is the author of Combat Veterans: Bringing It Home: A Survival Guide for Combat Veterans and Their Loved Ones. ($15 Amazon.com). DeWitt can be reached at Bill@combatveterans-bringingithome.com.

A Distant Cowboy Plays Bonehead

In July, 2003, George W. Bush, in his role as Commander in Chief, delivered a remarkable speech in which he stared into the camera with steely eyes and welcomed the blossoming insurgency in Iraq: “There are some who fee like the conditions are such that they can attack us (in Iraq.) My answer is, ‘Bring ‘em on.’”

For the troops on the ground, this casual invitation to violence had real life consequences. Lt. Paul Rieckhoff, serving in Iraq an as infantry platoon leader at the time, had this reaction:

Bring ‘em on? What the hell was he thinking? My soldiers and I were searching for car bombs … scanning rooftops for snipers, and our president in Washington (is) taunting our enemies and encouraging our enemies to attack us. Who the hell did he think he was? He had finally taken the cowboy act too far. Iraq was not a movie and he was not Clint Eastwood. The armchair bravado and arrogance of our commander in chief affected our lives directly and immediately. Iraq was a very fragile state and we needed our president to be a statesman, not a bully.