Archives » Wednesday, March 05, 2008
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David Botti
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Mar 5, 2008 12:57 PM
Kieran Lalor is a former Marine reservist and Iraq veteran running
for Congress in New York’s nineteenth district. He’s also the founder
of Iraq Vets for Congress, a group of 14 Republican, pro-war vets running in districts from Maine to California.
Lalor,
32, and I spent many years together as rifleman in the same infantry
company based in upstate New York. We served in Iraq (although in
different platoons), and experienced the military’s transition into
wartime footing after 9/11.
I spoke with Lalor about our shared
military experiences, fallen comrades, his entry into politics, John
McCain, and how he’s hoping to make 2008 the year of Republican war
veterans elected to office. Excerpts:
SOLDIER’S HOME:
When we were over there in Iraq I barely thought about the politics of
it all. I had some sense of what was going, but didn’t pay to much
attention to it. Was it the same for you? When did you start really
thinking hard about the political aspect of the war?
LALOR:
Officially my campaign began on November 25, 2007, but it really began
on 9/11. One of my sisters worked in the north tower of the World Trade
Center. On September 11th I was living in here in Westchester, about 40
miles from Ground Zero. I was watching TV with a year of reserve duty
under my belt, so I was watching this as a U.S. Marine; watching our
country get attacked, wondering if my sister was dead or alive. I just
felt helpless. I didn’t ever want to feel that way again, and it just
woke me up. I realized our generation had a big challenge.
I
went through the 90’s and everything was hunky dory: a prosperous
economy, and at least the appearance of peace. I thought we were going
to have a free ride. Our parents' generation had the Cold War, our
grandparents had WWII and the depression. September 11th hit and I
thought, "OK, our generation has some work to do."
In Iraq I
don’t think I really thought about the politics except that I just
remember thinking of some of these pictures I had taken: the kids and
the American flag, the kids running up to us, or hanging out by the
gate [of our HQ]. If these scenes could have been brought home five
years ago the impression of the war could’ve been different here. We
got a lot of negative, and not a lot of positive.
It wasn’t
Iraq so much as the wider War on Terror that got me to run. My passion
became how do you secure a country of 300 million people, and protect
civil liberties.
Did anything specific happen while we were in Iraq that’s influenced your platform, or ideas about politics?
One
thing that informs my foreign policy view, and why I continue to
support the war in Iraq, is how we were running patrols 24/7 out in the
streets of Nasiriyah. We were being proactive. Well, the Italian
[coalition forces] relieved us, and their doctrine was react to
problems in the streets. And, they got hit [by a suicide bomber], and a
good number of them died. I think that the Italian strategy of
reacting, and staying home in the compound until something happened in
the streets, was basically American foreign policy up until September
11th. On a small scale our [rifle company’s] doctrine of being
proactive, and being omnipresent in the streets is what I believe is
the best post-9/11 foreign policy.
I asked Lalor about
Lcpl Glover, a very good friend of his who was killed in Iraq in 2006.
Glover didn’t serve with us in Iraq, but he joined the unit later and
volunteered for a subsequent deployment. He was killed along with
another Marine from our unit during a sniper attack in Fallujah. I wrote about his funeral for a post on Veterans Day last year.
Mike
Glover was one of my best friends, and in some ways I feel responsible
for getting him into the Marine Corps. I really feel like we owe it to
all those guys, especially Glover because I knew him so well. I don’t
want him to have died in vain. That happened three years after we got
back, and his death really made me more resolved. I talked to Glover’s
family a little bit about that aspect, and they don’t want his death to
have been in vain. I’ve also gotten calls from Gold Star Mothers and
Fathers saying thanks for carrying on my son’s legacy. It takes my
breath away, and I take it seriously.
I never talk about him in
a political context. I’m comfortable talking about him to you because I
know you. I told a story about him in a speech on Veterans Day, but I
asked permission from his family to mention him. But, he kind of
symbolizes all of the other guys [four marines from our unit killed in
Iraq from 2004-2006]. What’s ironic is that they all volunteered, and
didn’t have to go. It’s kind of eerie, but it says a lot.
Why did you form the group Iraq Vets for Congress?
To
help individual campaigns. If there are veterans who vote because a guy
is a fellow veteran, that individual person does that on his own. [I
formed the group] because politics has become a millionaire's game. A
high, high percentage of people in congress are millionaires. So, by
joining forces with other veterans we’ve been able to get more national
attention. We’re starting to break through nationally and what that
does it raise our individual profiles. And, the biggest thing is fund
raising. I have to raise more than a million dollars for this campaign.
I have about a hundred thousand so far, and my opponent already has a
million dollars.
Does the fact that McCain, another Republican veteran, is also running have any affect on your individual campaigns?
McCain
always brings out a lot of veterans who vote. He’ll bring out a few
thousand people that are veterans that don’t normally vote; that seems
to be a trend. Also, because of Iraq Vets for Congress I’ve been
contacted by the McCain campaign. What we offer him is 14 guys in
districts where there’s no republican Congressman. There’s two guys in
Ohio and two guys in Pennsylvania which are big states that you have to
win. We can help him, and he can help us. Also, we try to hammer home
that we want to make 2008 the year of the republican veteran. With
McCain on the popular ticket, the 14 of us, some other Vietnam vets,
and Gulf War vets running, that’s a theme we’re trying to build.
A
lot of people paint Republicans as chicken hawks: people who cheer lead
for war, but don’t want to put their lives on the line. Our campaigns
dispel that myth.
Is there a danger of placing too much of your campaign’s emphasis on the fact you’re a veteran?
I
don’t think that’s enough to get somebody elected, but it definitely
gets peoples' attention. There has to be a balance. You have to be more
than just a guy who served in Iraq.
What about the fact
that you were a reservist? We were called up twice on relatively short
notice, leaving behind or jobs, school, and families. What impact has
that had on you?
That kind of balancing act: living in a
couple of different worlds and being well-rounded, is very helpful
running for Congress. I’m not completely of the military mindset, which
I think is good. Being half in the military world, and half in the
civilian world gives you double the amount of perspective. I can see
the other side: what it does to employers, and what it’s like trying to
get back into the work force for example. Sometimes I’d go into
interviews and I’d feel like I was sitting in that chair because this
guy wanted someone to debate the Iraq war with–even though I had no
chance of getting that job.
How have people reacted on the campaign trail towards the fact that you’re a veteran?
People
have been pretty good. There’s been positive feedback. I don’t think
it’s enough to get elected. The Iraq war is a difficult issue for
republicans, and every republican is going to have to deal with it.
And somebody who’s served in Iraq can deal with it better than
anybody. When I get questions about it I say, listen: I risked my life
there, I lost friends there. If I thought it wasn’t making our country
safer I’d be the loudest voice saying that.
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