Emerson target of anti-Bush ad campaign

A new ad campaign opposing President George Bush's Iraq War policies and featuring former military commanders will target U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson.

VoteVets.org will air three ads at a cost of $500,000 to urge 14 Senators and Representatives to break ranks with Bush and support efforts to reduce or remove U.S. troops from Iraq.

"Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson is seen as a particularly important member of Congress on the Iraq war issue because in the most recent vote for the Iraq Accountability Act, she switched her vote to "present," signaling some serious hesitation about supporting the president's reckless Iraq policy," VoteVets.org said in a prepared statement issued Wednesday.

Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, said after the vote that she doesn't like the current war policies but believed the bill politicized the war too much.

The ads will feature three retired generals in an attempt to show that Bush, despite his public statements, does not listen to commanders on the ground in Iraq. The first ad will feature Major Gen. John Batiste, a retired commander who led the 1st Infantry Division from August 2002 to June 2005. The division was deployed to northern Iraq from February 2004 to February 2005. Batiste is a Republican who voted twice for Bush, the statement said.

In the video clip of Batiste, he directs criticism at the president: "You continue to pursue the failed strategy that is breaking our great Army and Marine Corps I left in protest to speak out. Mr. President you have placed our nation in peril."

The first ad can be seen on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn_BcR4p-CQ

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