Several veterans walked out of a private community meeting with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she trashed U.S. foreign policy and criticized Donald Trump.
The New York Post reports that Ocasio-Cortez’s spokesman denied anyone walked out of the meeting — a claim one of the veterans described as “bulls**t.”
“She knocks the country, she knocks the president. And that’s not what America is about,” said Silvio Mazzella, a Vietnam War vet and treasurer of Community Board 11.
Anthony Vitaliano — an Army veteran who worked in the NYPD for 38 years, and commanded the Bronx’s homicide detectives — was sitting between Ocasio-Cortez and a staffer for the freshman Dem.
“I just couldn’t hear her BS anymore,” the former CB11 chairman said. “I just got up, got my umbrella in my hand and walked right out.”
The reason the vets walked out is perfectly illustrative of AOC’s towering ignorance of world affairs and her “Blame America First” position on foreign policy.
One Middle Eastern board member raised the issue of the conflict in Yemen.
The progressive firebrand slammed the US policy of providing bombs to Saudi Arabia, which has supported Yemen’s government in a brutal civil war, according to attendees. Some blamed her for not including the roles of other nations in explaining the volatile region’s violence.
“Talking about America, that really turned me off completely,” said Mazzella, 74, who said he fought in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968.
I guess AOC never got the memo about Iran’s blatant interference in Yemen’s affairs and their use of a proxy army to threaten Saudi Arabia.
It’s true there is a debate to be had about U.S. policy in Yemen. It’s a brutal civil war with no quarter given to civilians and combatants alike. The way the Saudis are prosecuting the war guarantees massive numbers of civilian casualties, as the kingdom has slapped a blockade on Yemen, preventing vital humanitarian from reaching starving people.
The U.S. role in the conflict is giving support to the Saudi military, including, at one time, refueling Saudi warplanes. That policy was ended last year and U.S. support in Yemen now includes advising the Saudi coalition and intelligence and surveillance support.
But for anyone to say anything about U.S. policy in Yemen without mentioning Iran’s hegemonic designs on the region demonstrates an appalling lack of awareness.
The veterans who walked out on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set a fine example for the rest of us. When an ignorant socialist starts spouting off on issues they know nothing about, the best thing to do is embarrass them by refusing to listen to their nonsense.
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