An Iraqi war veteran who lost both of her legs in the war plans to run for Congress in the Illonois Sixth District under the Democratic Party. Her own story symbolizes how brutal war is, and she possesses the power and experience to challenge the administration’s claims that the war is worth it. Former Army Maj. Tammy Duckworth was injured in Nov. 2004 when insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at her Black Hawk helicopter. Days after the attack, Duckworth woke up in the Walter Reed Memorial Hospital in Maryland without her legs.
Duckworth’s story shows how unstable and dangerous Iraq has become. By announcing her candidacy on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” in December, she has a chance to give a voice to veterans of the Iraq war that have also suffered mentally or physically.
Duckworth’s campaign is also a smart move because Republicans will have a difficult time attacking a woman who lost both of her legs in the war. Her statements about Iraq will be hard to dispute because she was there.
The former Army Maj. has already stated that the war will be an issue that drives her campaign. “I can’t avoid the interest in the fact that I’m an injured female soldier,” she told The Washington Post. “Understand that I’m going to use this as a platform.”
She also seems to realize that keeping troops in Iraq increases the insurgency. “During my time in Iraq, whenever I had a chance, I talked with Iraqis.I came away from these conversations with the impression that while they often said what they thought we wanted to hear, they resented what they saw as the occupation of their country,” Duckworth said in a statement released on her Web site, www.duckworthforcongress.com.
Though Duckworth has made statements against the war and pointed out the administration’s blunders, she has offered no timetable for withdrawal on her website or to the press. Unfortunately, like other prominent Democrats, including Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Hillary Clinton, Duckworth has yet to pressure the administration to withdraw troops soon.
To win a seat in Congress, Duckworth is also going to need to run on a platform that is based on more than Iraq. She needs a plan for education, the economy, healthcare and other key issues.
If Duckworth does win the Democratic primary and then defeats her Republican opponent in the fall, she will have an opportunity to show people how ugly war is. Unlike other politicians, she was in Iraq. She knows about the bloodshed and difficulty to stabilize the country. Having veterans in Congress is beneficial because they would hesitate to send troops to war because they know the death and destruction that war breeds.
Brian Fanelli is a senior majoring in comparative literature with minors in creative writing and journalism.