Today, I stand with Americans around the country in
honoring my fellow veterans, those still with us and those who made the
ultimate sacrifice defending the country we love. Throughout my 16 years
as a soldier, including two deployments to the Middle East, I have
witnessed the very best of humanity — even during the darkest of moments
— in the patriots I’ve had the privilege of serving with.
Today, they deserve more.
On this day we hear platitudes and words of thanks from politicians.
But too often, this rhetoric is hollow — and the self-serving
politicians who’d salute a veteran or march in a parade end up
perpetuating the very same policies that have caused so much unnecessary
suffering.
This hypocrisy must end.
The best way we can honor my brothers and sisters in uniform
is by only sending them on missions worthy of their great sacrifice. We
can honor them by caring for them when they come home. Making
sure they get benefits they’ve earned. By doing all we can to prevent
more of our veterans from taking their own lives by suicide. Empowering
them to continue to serve when they return to civilian life. We honor
them by reinvesting the trillions of dollars we’ve wasted on deadly
regime change wars, the new Cold War and nuclear arms race, back in the
pockets of the American people.
As president, I will show our veterans the respect they
deserve with actions that truly honor all those who risk their lives for
the safety, security and freedom of all Americans.
Do you know a veteran who needs to hear this message today? Watch this video, and then help me get the message out.
Politicians in both parties have failed to truly honor our sacrifices.
Serving in a medical unit in Iraq, I saw firsthand the high costs of
interventionist policies launched in the naive and wrongheaded belief
that we should police the world and impose our will on foreign societies
through brute force. Our soldiers signed up to protect America, not
pillage other nations.
That’s why a centerpiece of my campaign for president has been
calling for the precious resources we have squandered on ill-fated,
destructive military interventions to be redirected back home to improve
the quality of life for our veterans and all Americans. Imagine if the trillions of dollars wasted on regime change wars since 9/11 had been left in the pockets of the American people,
or invested in health care, infrastructure, education and protecting
our environment. The missed opportunities are incalculable.
We need a commander-in-chief with the strength and independence to
resist the pressures of interventionists and those who profit off the
backs of our men and women in uniform. One with a record of standing up
to the military industrial complex, one who will never send our troops
into harm’s way unless it is absolutely necessary and who will take care
of those who return home.
I enlisted after the attacks on 9/11 out of a deep conviction that service above self is our highest calling.
As president, I will honor that calling with actions deserving the
sacrifice every soldier and veteran makes for our great nation.
Today we honor all of you who serve, who have sacrificed, and who continue to fight for our freedoms.
TULSI
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