Home > TV Ad Focuses on U.S. Military Wounded in Iraq
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Robert Acosta lost his arm when his Humvee was attacked in Iraq. (NYT Photo/Ruth Fremson)
WASHINGTON - A new television ad sponsored by U.S. veterans strongly questions
President Bush’s case for war in Iraq, but the group behind it said on Wednesday
the spot was not meant to benefit either presidential candidate.
First aired hours before the last presidential debate between Republican Bush
and Democratic Sen. John Kerry, the ad shows a U.S. Iraq war veteran talking
about the justification for the war as he shows the stump of his amputated arm.
The veteran, Robert Acosta, says in the ad: "I was called to serve in Iraq because the government said there were weapons of mass destruction, but they weren’t there ... So when people ask me where my arm went, I try to find the words, but they’re not there."
The ad was shown repeatedly on CNN on Wednesday.
"The whole point behind the ad is to get America to think, to have people understand that the wounded are more than a number," said Paul Rieckhoff, who founded the non-profit veterans’ group Operation Truth.
"It’s not intended to benefit any candidate, we’re not associated with any candidate or any party," Rieckhoff said. "It’s a way for us to insert ourselves into the conversation and have people understand (that) the long-term effects are going to be around for decades and the issue is going to be around after Nov. 2."
Last month, a group of military families whose relatives died in Iraq said they planned to target the president in ads set to air in Nevada, Florida and New Mexico, all considered political swing states in the presidential race.
Another veterans group, the Swift Vets and POWs For Truth, has run television ads criticizing Kerry for making his Vietnam War service a centerpiece of his campaign, and contends Kerry’s congressional testimony during the Vietnam era maligned U.S. military personnel. (Reuters)