Students skip school to see Iraq speech

Minneapolis’ Channel 5 News (KSTP.com) reports:

A veteran’s bus tour featuring decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is stopping in the Twin Cities today. But controversy at Forest Lake High School forced the tour to make a change in plans. Capt. Pete Hegeseth founded the group Vets for Freedom. He is an Iraq War vet and a Forest Lake High School graduate. He received word yesterday that the school did not want the bus rolling through, calling the talk too political for a public school. He said parents and an outside group threatened to protest if they came. Instead, the group spoke at the Forest Lake American Legion. Dozens of students at Forest Lake High School were so upset that they skipped school to go see the speech [emphasis added mine].

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Among other Iraq War veterans denied the chance to speak at Forest Lake High School was Congressional Medal of Honor nominee and Silver Star recipient David Bellavia:

Today, after the visit to Forest Lake High School was cancelled, Staff Sergeant Bellavia spoke with Townhall.com talk-radio host Michael Gallagher. Here is the audio:

Accompanying Hegseth and Bellavia on the Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour are:

Michelle Malkin here and here has a lot more.

And Jim Hanson at Blackfive has this report and the following video of “…the event too dangerous for High School kids to see.”:

Go to the Vets for Freedom web site to learn more.

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Former Army Captain and Iraq War veteran Pete Hegseth, executive director of Vets for Freedom, writes about “Iraq’s Window of Opportunity” in this morning’s National Review Online:

The streets of Baghdad — and throughout most of Iraq — have been transformed, providing a significant window of opportunity to national and local Iraqi leaders. Local citizens protect neighborhoods on the U.S. dime, but won’t indefinitely. The Iraqi parliament has passed important legislation, but Baghdad’s Sunnis have yet to benefit. Muqtada al Sadr’s ceasefire continues, but it may not forever. While the gains are real, they remain fragile.

As our conversation shifts to next steps, Omar emphasizes that “we need to keep the young men busy, and can’t allow their minds to wander in bad directions.” Pushed for specifics, he responds: “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” Public jobs, private jobs, security jobs, and construction jobs; the young men have stopped fighting, and now must find an honorable way to earn a living.
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The months ahead will significantly shape the fate of the Iraq war. Al-Qaeda remains potent, but is in retreat, with the sea of tacit Sunni support drying up. But every infantryman knows that determined enemies will always counterattack. The question is: When they do, will jobless masses be ripe for recruitment — or will al-Qaeda’s appeals fall on deaf ears?

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