Vets for Freedom - Another GOP Front Group

In July 2006, VFF—calling itself the Vets for Freedom Action Fund (VFF-AF)—registered^[7] with the IRS as a 527 committee national lobby. It was, in essence, a Republican front group managed by Republican-affiliated public relations^[8], media^[9], legal^[10], and political consultants, including former White House spokesman Taylor Gross, to defeat candidates who advocate an end to the US occupation of Iraq.

A disclaimer on the bottom of each VFF web page states^[75] "Vets for Freedom is a nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization. Contributions are not deductible for federal income tax purposes."

Originally, the organization's precise tax status (501c3, 501c4, 527 committee) was not stated and virtually no information was available on the Vets for Freedom website about the funders and organizations behind Vets for Freedom, making it difficult to evaluate the degree to which the organization might have been part of a war propaganda campaign interacting with the Bush Administration, the Pentagon, the American Legion and/or other ideologically-driven public relations and lobbying efforts that have exploited for political purposes the issues of US war veterans and their families, such as Move America Forward and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

SourceWatch

Naming this GOP front group Vets for Freedom reminds me of a phrase popular during the Vietnam era, "Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity." Veterans for Freedom attempts to make it appear that our soldiers fully support a continued military presence in Iraq. Nothing is further from the truth. If Americans want to continue the Iraq war, let them show their approval by reactivating the draft.