Gathering of Eagles

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Standing Up For the Troops

By Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | 9/13/2007

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Chris Hill, the National Director for Operations Gathering of Eagles (GOE). He served in the US Army Infantry (9th Regiment) from 1986-90.



FP: Chris Hill, welcome to Frontpage Interview.

Hill: Thank you.

FP: This weekend, on Saturday, Sept 15, your group will confront anti-war demonstrators at the Capitol. I want to talk to you about this event and your efforts.
Before we get to that, tell us a bit about your group. What exactly is the Gathering of Eagles?

Hill: GOE is a group of veterans and supporters who believe that we face a grave enemy, with whom we are currently engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We have witnessed our brave warriors, of multiple generations, attacked by members of hateful anti-American groups and we have had enough. We will not see this generation slandered and abused the way the Vietnam vets were. We will support our service members fully on the ground here while they fight the good fight in the War on Terror.

We were initially organized to protect our war memorials from desecration, but have since expanded to defend our military from assault. Obviously, witnessing the attacks on Gen Petraeus before he testified, and the presumed vandalism of the Vietnam Wall, both are needed. We also stand in the streets to give all those people who support our brave warriors a voice. People who might yell at their television sets in frustration can rally with us instead.

FP: Tell us about your plans for September 15, 2007.

Hill: The Gathering of Eagleswas on Capitol Hill last Monday to show support for Gen. Petraeus and the larger War on Terror. We visited 70 plus congressional offices and had face to face meetings with Sens Lieberman and McConnell. That was our first push. We wanted to let the good guys know that they have popular support for the war effort and let the other side know that we are not going away.

This weekend we will do the second part. We will confront ANSWER, MoveOn.org, Code Pink and the rest of the anti-American forces who are marching from the White House to the Capitol. On September 15, we will rally at 9:00 a.m. at 7th St on The Mall and then move over to Pennsylvania Ave to line ANSWER's route. We will counter them all the way to the Capitol where they plan a die-in. They will hold likenesses of our brave warriors who have been killed in action. We find that particularly despicable since they have not asked any family members of those killed for permission.

FP: What is your overall position on the War on Terror in general and on the Iraq war in particular?

Hill: We believe that the war in Iraq is the central battle ground in the larger War on Terror; not because we said so, but because bin Laden and Zawahiri said so. We believe our service members are taking the fight to the radical Islamists who wish for world dominance. We support the effort fully. We want our brave men and women to come home too, but as victors, not with their tales between their legs due to legislated defeat. T

The average age of our warriors is 19. That means most of the professional military enlisted after 9/11. They know who they are fighting and why, and we will not see their sacrifice disparaged. Not on our watch.

FP: What are your thoughts on the Left’s behaviour in the Terror War?

Hill: I believe the radical elements of the Left, embodied by the MoveOn, ANSWER, and Code Pink crowd, are actually extending the war they claim to want to end. Their statements wind up on jihadist recruitment DVDs, propaganda sites such as al Jazeera, and as we witnessed this week, in the speeches of bin Laden.

They are so invested in defeat that they will sacrifice our brave men and women in uniform to reach their goals, which are the radical upheaval of the government of the United States and an end to the democratic ideals which have made us the greatest nation on Earth. Had they been behind the war effort from the beginning Iraq would be a very different place these days. Yelling about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, while homicidal maniacs bent on world domination cut off heads, is decidedly harmful and hurts the morale of our brave warriors.

FP: Can you talk a bit about your past success in March?

Hill: Back in March we staged a similar counter-protest where we had 20,000 vets and supporters in DC, so we're hopeful that we can get similar numbers. The MoveOn ad that slandered Gen Petraeus and questioned his patriotism, as well as the reported vandalism of the Vietnam Wall have galvanized our forces.

FP: Describe the vandalism of the Vietnam Wall and who perpetrated it. Why would someone do such a thing?

Hill: We're still awaiting official word from the Park Police, but an oily substance was sprayed along nearly 30 panels of the Vietnam Wall. It discolored some panels to the point of making some names illegible. If it was a deliberate act, and I find it hard to believe it was anything else, then no matter who actually perpetrated it, it can be laid at the door of the likes of Code Pink, MoveOn and ANSWER. They have ramped up the rhetoric concerning Iraq by comparing it to Vietnam. Some kid probably took that to heart and decided to stage some civil disobedience by disgracing a grave marker to our fallen brothers and sisters. The anti-American forces are led, in large part, by the same masters who violently protested Vietnam. They see our withdrawal there as a win for them. So the geography has changed, but the game plan is the same and my Gold Standard for warriors, the Vietnam vets, are once again the ones being attacked.

FP: If these radical leftists see defeat in Vietnam and Iraq as a victory for them, what does it say about their agenda? What do you think are the real motives and aspirations of these anti-war groups? Why would they root for the totalitarian enemy – a totalitarian enemy that would set up a society in which they themselves would be exterminated?

Hill: It is not a secret that most of these groups trace their lineage to Marxist-Leninist organizations. Their desire is to bring about radical reversals of American ideals, which they consider the root cause of all that is wrong in the world. They are more worried by global warming than terrorism; even though evidence of terrorism is provided in the form of thousands of our fellow Americans incinerated 6 years ago today, or killed in the war since.

I cannot for the life of me imagine what would make these people think they would be welcomed into the society they envision. Medea Benjamin of Code Pink was thrown out of Cuba after all. I guess that they feel that by pushing and pushing they will remain in the spotlight and that feeds some hole inside them somewhere. I think they also realize that no matter what they do, our brave men and women in uniform will always stand between them and the barbarians at the gates. Somewhere deep inside I think they know too that even if an enemy were to fight their way through our 2,000,000 uniformed military personnel, that the veterans of this country would strap it on again and defend just those people who disparage us. It's who we are and what we do.

FP: So kindly reiterate what readers who would like to help can do on September 15. Also talk a bit about what concerned citizens can do in terms of helping your group overall.

Hill: We're asking anyone who can stand with us in DC this Saturday to do so. If you are not able to be with us, then help support us. ANSWER, Code Pink and MoveOn are funded by the deep pockets of George Soros and his ilk. We are a strictly volunteer organization that survives through donations. We are also asking that every concerned citizen who wants to see our men and women in uniform come home as victors call, fax and email their congressmen and tell them so.

Our website gatheringofeagles.org has all the details and ways for people to get involved. We veterans feel that we have to defend our brothers and sisters. The supporters who have never served, but stand with us anyway do so because they want to. That means the world to us. We would bleed on the flag to keep the stripes red and know we are not alone. Anyone who stands with us in the face of the anti-American left's hypocrisy and deceit will rightly be called part of our brotherhood. There are no dues for membership and no secret handshakes. If you say you are an Eagle, then you are. Troops, Troops and Nothing but the Troops is our motto. We have pledged to BUY THE TROOPS SOME TIME TO WIN, and with your readers help we can.

FP: Chris Hill, thank you for joining us today.

Hill: Thanks for having us on brother.

FP: I consider you my brother too Chris. And everyone in the Gathering of Eagles -- and all the brave men and women putting their lives on the line in Iraq and in the terror war -- are the brothers and sisters of Frontpagemag.com.
Jamie Glazov is Frontpage Magazine's managing editor. He holds a Ph.D. in History with a specialty in U.S. and Canadian foreign policy. He edited and wrote the introduction to David Horowitz’s Left Illusions. He is also the co-editor (with David Horowitz) of The Hate America Left and the author of Canadian Policy Toward Khrushchev’s Soviet Union (McGill-Queens University Press, 2002) and 15 Tips on How to be a Good Leftist. To see his previous symposiums, interviews and articles Click Here. Email him at jglazov@rogers.com.